Dante Basco

"Ru...fi...O!"

Dante Basco is one of the few prominent American celebrities of Filipino heritage. He is the brother of Darion Basco, Derek Basco, Dion Basco and Ariana Basco. In his early years, he was part of the Streat Freaks breakdancing crew. When he got into acting, he started taking on minor roles in television. He later appeared in a substantial role in Steven Spielberg's 1991 film Hook with Robin Williams and Dustin Hoffman, as Rufio, the charismatic red-stripe-haired leader of the Lost Boys.

He portrayed characters of different Asian ethnicities, but never Filipino. He did however, star in the independent film The Debut, in which he portrayed a Filipino-American alongside his three brothers and sister.

More recently, he has provided the voices for Prince Zuko in Avatar: The Last Airbender and Jake Long in American Dragon: Jake Long, and will provide a voice in The Legend of Korra. He starred as Ramos in the 2006 film Take The Lead alongside Antonio Banderas, where he break-danced as well as performed ballroom dance. This wasn't the only film in which he was required to dance. In many films he hip-hop dances, just as he did in a Verizon Wireless commercial as well as rapping and breaking in a Sprite commercial. He also leads a rap/rock fusion band, the Basco Brothers, made up of him and his siblings.

He has recently started to read Homestuck. He was rather bemused at the fact that Rufio is a character in the story.