Dante Basco

Dante Roman Titus 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 title character of American Dragon: Jake Long and Prince Zuko in Avatar: The Last Airbender.

His voice acting roles also 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. One of his classmates was fellow actor Pedro Pascal.

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.

Voice acting alt=Man and woman seated at table conversing with adult and youth. 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.

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 Year Title Role Notes 1988 Moonwalker Romeo Uncredited; segment: "Bad" 1989 The Wizard Corey's friend Deleted Scenes 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 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"

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 Adventures The Narrator Voice 2020 Let's Read Homestuck Rufioh Nitram Voice, episode: "Act 6 Intermission 3 - Part 7" 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 2010 Skate 3 Shingo 2011 Nicktoons MLB Prince Zuko 2025 Date Everything! Dante

Awards Young Artist Award – Hook'' Won – Best Ensemble Cast Nominated – Best Young Actor