Dante Basco

Early life

Basco was born to Filipino parents on August 29, 1975, in Pittsburg, California, and raised in Cerritos and Paramount, California. He has four siblings, including actor Dion Basco. In the mid-1980s, he and his brothers formed a breakdancing crew and worked as street performers. He attended Orange County High School of the Arts in the Music and Theatre Conservatory and graduated in 1993.

In 1998, Basco co-founded the Da Poetry Lounge, a slam and spoken poetry venue in Hollywood.

Career

He began his acting career with minor television roles. His breakthrough performance was when he appeared as Rufio, the leader of the Lost Boys in Steven Spielberg's 1991 film Hook with Robin Williams and Dustin Hoffman.

In 2017, Basco produced a Kickstarter-funded short film, Bangarang, about the character Rufio. The film was directed by Jonah Feingold.

Basco streams gameplay on Twitch.

Basco released his memoir From Rufio to Zuko through the independent publisher Not a Cult.

Avatar: Braving the Elements, an official Nickelodeon companion podcast to Avatar: The Last Airbender, premiered on June 22, 2021. Basco and Janet Varney (voice of Korra) host the podcast, which follows them as they rewatch the series, discuss each episode's key moments and behind-the scenes information, and feature special guests.

Voice acting

Basco has done voice acting for many animated productions, including Zuko in Avatar: The Last Airbender, Jai Kell in Star Wars Rebels and Jake Long in American Dragon: Jake Long. Additional roles include Kwok Wong in The Proud Family, Matt Martin/Kewl Breeze in Zevo-3, and General Iroh in The Legend of Korra.**

He contributed additional voices for Aion, Mortal Kombat X, and Saints Row. He also voiced Shingo in the Skate series and Seeing Farther in the Call of Juarez series. Basco also voiced in Date Everything!

Personal life

On April 19, 2023, Basco became engaged to filmmaker, actress and television host Alice Rehemutula. They married in September 2023 in China. Their son was born in October 2024.

Filmography

Film

Television

Web series

Video games

Awards

• Young Artist Award – Hook
  • Won – Best Ensemble Cast
  • Nominated – Best Young Actor

References

References

1. "Dante R Basco, Born 08/29/1975". [[California Birth Index]].
2. (February 11, 2019). "These Filipinos Are the Voices of Modern Cartoon and Anime Characters". [[Hearst Communications]].
3. (22 March 2013). "Social Encore: Kinetic's perspective". Honolulu Pulse.
4. (September 24, 2021). "Dante Basco reflects on diversity in Hollywood as a child star: 'No one even knew what a Filipino was'". Yahoo Entertainment.
5. Catherine Gewertz. (December 26, 1992). "The Fine Art of Fame". [[Los Angeles Times]].
6. Yu, Timothy. (2021-03-11). "The Cambridge Companion to Twenty-First-Century American Poetry". Cambridge University Press.
7. (12 August 2014). "Hook Actor Dante Basco Remembers Robin Williams With Touching Video and Letter". [[E!]].
8. Ada Tsend. (28 June 2017). "Remember Rufio in 'Hook'? The actor is trying to keep his cult character's legacy alive".
9. Oller, Jacob. (2020-07-10). "Avatar: The Last Airbender's Dante Basco on 'tango' of doing live, audience-driven Twitch show".
10. Dar, Taimur. (June 23, 2021). "INTERVIEW: Janet Varney and Dante Basco talk BRAVING THE ELEMENTS for the Last Airbender Podcast".
11. (30 September 2014). "Dante Basco talks Hollywood at LMU". Los Angeles Loyolan.
12. (19 Jun 2012). "'The Legend of Korra' Creators Preview the Season Finale and as Karate Kid In Justice League Trapped In Time.". [[The Wall Street Journal]].
13. sidreddy. (2020-06-22). "Alice Rehemutula {{!}} Filmmaker".
14. (3 September 2019). "Meet Trailblazer Alice Rehemutula".
15. Basco, Dante. (2023-04-20). "Look what went down in #Paris… We got engaged!!! 💍 I really got to surprise her in the city of love! #eiffeltower 4/19/2023".
16. Gray, Lauren. (2021-10-23). "Dante Basco Played Rufio In "Hook." See Him Now At 46.".
17. Rehemutula, Alice. (2023-09-16). "Instagram".
18. "Dante Basco (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors.
19. Schuhart, Jonah. (July 16, 2021). "Netflix's Trailer For Monster Hunter: Legends Of The Guild Teases Monstrous Action".
20. (29 April 1997). "Picks and Pans Review: Riot". [[People (magazine).
21. Nelson, Samantha. (September 18, 2025). "The Dragon Prince fans have already pledged more than $560K for a spinoff series".
22. "DEATH BATTLE! Zuko VS Shoto Todoroki (Avatar VS My Hero Academia)".
23. "Final Fantasy XIII (2010 Video Game)".
24. Brian Chard. (April 14, 2015). "Huge thanks to the stellar MKX voice actors: Troy @TroyBakerVA (Shinnok/EBlack/Fujin), Ronald M. Banks (Quan Chi); Ashly Burch (Cassie)...".