Dante R. Basco (born August 29, 1975) is an American film, television and voice actor. He is best known for his role as Rufio, the leader of the Lost Boys in

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spi ...

's ''

Hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved or indented, such that it can be used to grab onto, connect, or otherwise attach itself onto another object. In a number of uses, one e ...

'', and Julian Lee in '' Fakin' da Funk'', and for his many voice acting roles, most notably as Prince Zuko from

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

's '' Avatar: The Last Airbender'', General Iroh II, Zuko's grandson, in ''

The Legend of Korra ''The Legend of Korra'' (abbreviated as TLOK), also known as ''Avatar: The Legend of Korra'' or simply ''Korra'', is an American Anime-influenced animation, anime-influenced Animated series, animated television series created by Michael Dante ...

'', Shingo in EA's ''

Skate. ''Skate'' (stylized as ''skate.'') is a series of extreme sports games primarily developed and published by Electronic Arts. The first three mainline games in the series were developed by EA Black Box. After EA Black Box was shut down in 2013, the ...

'', Jake Long from Disney Channel's '' American Dragon: Jake Long'', Fukushima in

Kim Possible ''Kim Possible'' is an American animated action comedy-adventure television series created by Bob Schooley and Mark McCorkle for Disney Channel. The title character is a teenage girl tasked with fighting crime on a regular basis while copi ...

, Kwok Wong in '' the Proud Family'', Jingmei in '' The Boondocks'', Kenny Rodgers in Firebreather, Tuck in '' Generator Rex'',

Scorpion Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always endi ...

in ''

Ultimate Spider-Man ''Ultimate Spider-Man'' is a superhero comic book series that was published by Marvel Comics from 2000 to 2011. The series is a modernized re-imagining of Marvel's long-running Spider-Man comic book franchise as part of the company's Ultimate ...

'', Jai Kell in ''

Star Wars Rebels ''Star Wars Rebels'' is an American 3D animated science fiction television series produced by Lucasfilm Animation and set in the '' Star Wars'' universe. It takes place over a decade after '' Episode III: Revenge of the Sith'' and progressi ...

'', Cheddar in '' We Bare Bears'', Javier in '' Victor and Valentino'', and Spin Kick from '' Carmen Sandiego''.

Early life

Basco was born in Pittsburg, California, and raised in Cerritos and

Paramount, California Paramount is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. According to the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 54,098, down from 55,266 at the 2000 census. Paramount is part of the Greater Los Angeles Area and is borde ...

. He has four siblings, including actor Dion Basco. In Dante's early years, he was part of the Street Freaks

breakdancing Breakdancing, also called breaking or b-boying/b-girling, is an athletic style of street dance originating from the African American and Puerto Rican communities in the United States. While diverse in the amount of variation available in ...

crew with his brothers. He attended Orange County High School of the Arts in the Music and Theatre Conservatory and graduated in 1993.

Career

He got into acting taking on minor roles in television. Basco's breakout performance was when he appeared as the leader Rufio of the Lost Boys in

's 1991 film ''

'' with

Robin Williams Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and comed ...

and

Dustin Hoffman Dustin Lee Hoffman (born August 8, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker. As one of the key actors in the formation of New Hollywood, Hoffman is known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and emotionally vulnerable characters. He is ...

. A punk band was later named after this character. In June 2017, he agreed with Jonah Feingold to work on a new film together, ''Bangarang'', about the character Rufio. The development of the project started with a Kickstarter campaign. 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

companion podcast to '' Avatar: The Last Airbender'', premiered on June 22, 2021, hosted by Basco and

Janet Varney Janet Varney (born February 16, 1976) is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer, known for voicing Korra in the Nickelodeon animated television series '' The Legend of Korra'', co-starring as Sheriff Evie Barret in the television se ...

. The podcast is an episode-by-episode deep dive into the Avatarverse with special guest appearances.

Voice acting

Basco has done voice acting for many animated productions, including Zuko in '' Avatar: The Last Airbender'', Jai Kell in ''

'' and

Jake Long Jake Edward Long (born May 9, 1985) is a former American football offensive tackle. He played college football at Michigan, where he was a two-time consensus All-American, and was drafted by the Miami Dolphins first overall in the 2008 NFL Dr ...

in '' American Dragon: Jake Long''. He also voice acted Kwok Wong in '' The Proud Family''. He voiced Matt Martin/Kewl Breeze in the short-lived animated series '' Zevo-3.'' He also voiced General Iroh, Zuko's grandson, in ''

.'' He contributed several voices for the video game '' Saints Row'', as well as voicing Shingo in the video games '' Skate'', '' Skate 2'' and '' Skate 3''. He voiced Seeing Farther in the video game '' Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood'' and the Asmodian male youth voice for the

MMORPG A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game. As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a character (of ...

game '' Aion: Tower of Eternity''. He has also provided voices for the games '' Aion'', '' Aion: Upheaval'' and '' Mortal Kombat X''.

Filmography

Film

Television

Web series

Video games

Web

Awards

Young Artist Award The Young Artist Award (originally known as the Youth in Film Award) is an accolade presented by the Young Artist Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1978 to honor excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young ...

– ''

'' ** Won – Best Ensemble Cast ** Nominated – Best Young Actor

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Basco, Dante 1975 births American male film actors American male television actors American male child actors American male voice actors American male video game actors American male actors of Filipino descent Living people People from Pittsburg, California 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors Orange County School of the Arts alumni