# Dante Basco

Dante Roman Basco (born August 29, 1975) is an American actor. He is known for his role as Rufio, the leader of the Lost Boys in Steven Spielberg's Hook, Dolph in the cult film But I'm a Cheerleader, the lead character Ben Mercado in the independent film The Debut, and for voicing the titular protagonist of American Dragon: Jake Long and Prince Zuko in Avatar: The Last Airbender.
His voice acting roles include Zuko's grandson General Iroh II in The Legend of Korra, Quoc Wong in The Proud Family, Jingmei in The Boondocks, Tuck in Generator Rex, Scorpion in Ultimate Spider-Man, and Jai Kell in Star Wars Rebels.

## 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 the leader Rufio 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 the short-lived animated series 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.

## Personal life

On April 19, 2023, Basco became engaged to sidreddy (2020-06-22). "Alice Rehemutula | Filmmaker". SHOUTOUT LA. Retrieved 2023-05-23.</ref> actress and television host Alice Rehemutula. They married in September 2023 in China. In May 2024, Rehemutula announced her pregnancy with their first child, a son named Dunya Royale.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1990 | Cold Dog Soup | Chinese Boy | |
| 1991 | The Perfect Weapon | Jimmy Ho | |
| 1991 | Hook | Rufio | |
| 1995 | A Goofy Movie | Additional Voices | |
| 1995 | Fist of the North Star | Bat | Direct-to-video |
| 1997 | Fakin' da Funk | Julian Lee | |
| 1999 | But I'm a Cheerleader | Dolph | |
| 2000 | The Debut | Ben Mercado | |
| 2001 | Extreme Days | Corey Ng | |
| 2003 | Love Don't Cost a Thing | Spoken Word Artist | |
| 2003 | Biker Boyz | "Philly" | |
| 2006 | Take the Lead | Ramos | |
| 2008 | Nite Tales: The Movie | Gerard | |
| 2009 | Blood and Bone | "Pinball" | Direct-to-video |
| 2011 | Subject: I Love You | Nicky | |
| 2014 | JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time | Karate Kid | Voice, direct-to-video |
| 2014 | Cesar Chavez | Filipino Striker | |
| 2014 | Bad Asses | Gangly Asian | |
| 2014 | Murder101 | D. Phillips | |
| 2016 | Jarhead 3: The Siege | Blake | |
| 2019 | The Creatress | Franklin | |
| 2021 | The Fabulous Filipino Brothers | Douglas "Duke" Abasta | Also director |
| 2021 | Monster Hunter: Legends of the Guild | Aiden | Voice |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1988 | The Wonder Years | Eddie, Kid #3 | 2 episodes |
| 1988 | Santa Barbara | Amado | 4 episodes |
| 1988 | Dare to Say No | Asian Kid | Educational short film for EPCOT |
| 1989 | CBS Schoolbreak Special | Luis | Episode: "15 and Getting Straight" |
| 1989 | Highway To Heaven | "Champ" Hopkins | Episode: "Choices" |
| 1989 | Booker | Ping Pong | Episode: "Razing Arrizola" |
| 1990 | The New Adam 12 | Manko | Episode: "Kid Kop" |
| 1990 | The Earth Day Special | Kid (uncredited) | |
| 1993 | Raven | Lucas | Episode: "The Journey" |
| 1993–1994 | Hangin' with Mr. Cooper | Sammy | 2 episodes |
| 1995 | 500 Nations | Additional Voices | 3 episodes |
| 1995 | The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air | Kevin | Episode: "Cold Feet, Hot Body" |
| 1995 | Alien Nation: Body and Soul | Trash #2 | Television film |
| 1996 | Nash Bridges | Jimmy Chang | Episode: "Home Invasion" |
| 1997 | Riot | Jeff Lee | Television film Segment: "Gold Mountain" |
| 1996 | Touched by an Angel | Robbie Hawkins | Episode: "Random Acts" |
| 1998 | Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction | Rudy Hernandez | Episode: "Bright Lights/Magic Mightyman/The Student/Scribbles/County Mystery" |
| 1998 | Moesha | Marco | 4 episodes |
| 1998 | Promised Land | Tito | Episode: "Out of Bounds" |
| 1999 | Viper | Rishi Lama | Episode: "Holy Terror" |
| 1999 | Undressed | Jake | 5 episodes |
| 2000 | The Steve Harvey Show | Lee | Episode: "Guess Who's Not Coming to Counseling" |
| 2001 | A Kitty Bobo Show | Kitty Bobo | Voice, pilot |
| 2001 | The Chronicle | "Noodles" | Episode: "Here There Be Dragons" |
| 2002 | Providence | Justin Kim | Episode: "All the King's Men" |
| 2002 | The Proud Family | Quoc Wong | Voice, 2 episodes |
| 2003 | Kim Possible | Fukushima | Voice, episode: "Exchange" |
| 2004 | Johnny Bravo | Filipino, Man #3 | Voice, episode: "Win an El Toro Guapo/Witch-ay Woman" |
| 2004 | That's So Raven | Phil | 4 episodes |
| 2005–2007 | American Dragon: Jake Long | Jake Long | Voice, main role |
| 2005 | Lilo & Stitch: The Series | Jake Long | Voice, episode: "Morpholomew" |
| 2005–2008 | Avatar: The Last Airbender | Prince Zuko | Voice, main role (50 episodes) |
| 2006 | Entourage | Fukijama | Episode: "What About Bob?" |
| 2007 | The Suite Life of Zack & Cody | Madrid | 2 episodes |
| 2009 | Community | Bully's Friend #2 | Episode: "Comparative Religion" (uncredited) |
| 2010 | The Boondocks | Jingmei | Voice, episode: "The Red Ball" |
| 2010 | Dark Blue | "June Bug" | Episode: "Jane Wayne" |
| 2010 | Zevo-3 | Matt Martin / Kewl Breeze | Voice, 6 episodes |
| 2010 | Firebreather | Kenny Rogers | Voice, television film |
| 2010 | CSI: Miami | Ruben Franco | Episode: "Happy Birthday" |
| 2010–2012 | Generator Rex | Tuck | Voice, 3 episodes |
| 2011 | Prime Suspect | Bounce | Episode: "Carnivorous Sheep" |
| 2012 | Hawaii Five-0 | Nicky Chang | Episode: "Pu'olo (The Package)" |
| 2012–2014 | The Legend of Korra | General Iroh | Voice, 6 episodes |
| 2013 | Ultimate Spider-Man | Scorpion | Voice, 2 episodes |
| 2014 | Star Wars Rebels | Jai Kell | Voice, 4 episodes |
| 2018 | A Million Little Things | Cory | 2 episodes |
| 2019 | We Bare Bears | Cheddar | Voice, episode: "Baby Orphan Ninja Bears" |
| 2019 | Drunk History | The Rabbit | Episode: "The Rabbit" |
| 2019–2020 | Victor & Valentino | Javier | Voice, 2 episodes |
| 2020 | Carmen Sandiego | Spinkick | Voice, 2 episodes |
| 2021 | Trese | Bagyon Kulimlim | Voice, 2 episodes |
| 2021 | Robot Chicken | Squall Leonhart, Looky Loo, Zuko | Voice, 2 episodes |
| 2022 | Little Demon | Ignatius | Voice, 2 episodes |
| 2023 | Blindspotting | Himself | Season 2, Episode 4: “By Hook or by Crook” |
| 2023 | Almost Paradise | Jace Vargas | Season 2, Recurring Role |
| 2024 | Um, Actually | Himself | Season 9, Episode 12 |
| 2024 | The Dragon Prince | Zym / Azymondias | Season 7, Episode 9 |

### Web series

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2014–2019 | Nostalgia Critic | Himself | 6 episodes |
| 2016–2019 | Camp Camp | Billy "Snake" Niksslip | Voice |
| 2018–2020 | Star Wars: Galaxy of AdventuresList of Star Wars television series#Star Wars Galaxy of Adventures (2018–present) | The Narrator | Voice |
| 2020 | Let's Read Homestuck | Rufioh Nitram | Voice, episode: "Act 6 Intermission 3 - Part 7" (The character of Rufioh Nitram is based on Dante Basco's previous role as Rufio in Hook) |
| 2020 | Death Battle | Zuko | Voice, episode: "Zuko VS Shoto Todoroki (Avatar vs My Hero Academia)" |

### Video games

| Year | Title | Role |
| 2006 | Saints Row | Stilwater's Residents |
| 2006 | Call of Juarez | Sees Farther |
| 2006 | Scarface: The World Is Yours | Additional Voices |
| 2006 | Avatar: The Last Airbender | Zuko |
| 2007 | Skate | Shingo |
| 2007 | Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Burning Earth | Zuko |
| 2008 | Avatar: The Last Airbender – Into the Inferno | Zuko |
| 2008 | Aion | Additional Voices |
| 2009 | Terminator Salvation | Resistance Soldiers |
| 2009 | Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood | Seeing Farther |
| 2009 | Skate 2 | Shingo |
| 2010 | Final Fantasy XIII | Cocoon Inhabitants |
| 2010 | Skate 3 | Shingo |
| 2011 | Nicktoons MLB | Prince Zuko |
| 2015 | Mortal Kombat X | Additional Voices |

## Awards

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