Dante Basco was just 16-years old when he played Rufio opposite Robin Williams' Peter Pan.
REMEMBER RUFIO and the Lost Boys from the 1991 movie Hook? They got together recently to mark the film's upcoming 25th anniversary and the second anniversary of the death of Robin Williams, who played Peter Pan in the Steven Spielberg directed Hook, one of the most beloved films for those who grew up in the 1990's. A bit older, a bit heavier, it was as if they never grew up, which was the allure of Neverland. They easily slipped into their characters for a photo shoot. Rufio's iconic character was played by Filipino/American actor Dante Basco. He was joined by the Lost Boys: Ryan J. Francis, Raushan Hammond, Isaiah Robinson, Thomas Tulak, Brett Willis, Ahmad Stoner, Bo Gheorghe, Bryan Willis and James Madio.
During the photo shoot, they took time to remember Williams, who died Aug. 11 two years ago. “I think for all of us [Robin’s death] was the death of our childhood,” Basco told Entertainment Tonight. “There’s sadness there, also there’s a lot of space to kind of celebrate one of the most legendary artists of our time. … [Robin] really taught me at a young age what it means to be a star, what it means to be a leader on a set. Everything you want Robin Williams to be he delivered in spades.” Basco's Rufio captured the hearts of many young girls by breaking the stereotype of Asian/American males. In an interview with news.com.au, Basco said he still gets recognized for his breakout role. "Being Asian/American, a lot of Asian/American guys come up to me who are in interracial relationships and they tell me, ‘Growing up my partner had a big crush on you and so you’re probably one of the reasons why she married me, so thank you.’”
RUFIO, ... I mean actor Dante Basco, checked in to announce the availability of a movie that he made in 2011.
James Serno, director
Paradise Broken is a dramatic departure for Basco, best known for his role as Rufio, the leader of the Lost Boys in the motion picture Hook, which starred the late Robin Williams. In this movie, he plays a pretty unsavory character, which takes a lot of acting from the personable Basco. He plays the role of Ray, a small-time drug dealer, and his girlfriend Misha, a prostitute. They live in a one bedroom apartment that is a half-a-mile from the tourist haven Waikiki Beach, but worlds away from the white sandy beaches that make Honolulu famous. With a shared dream for a better life, the two hustle to scrape by night after night. Then a disagreement leads to a blow-up that separates them, leaving each to face dangerous hurdles as they try to make it back to one another. For his role in Paradise, Basco received the best actor award in the 2012 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival.
The movie shows the darker side of paradise. The film was written by Chris McKinney, whose work focuses on the other side of Hawaii. "We wanted a story that felt real and authentic and exposed Waikiki and the underbelly of the streets," said director James Sereno. Unfortunately, Paradise didn't get wide distribution, but for those who missed it when it was released to the theaters, it just went digital and is available for downloading. Here's your chance to see it if you click here. or here, or on Amazon. Sorry, its not free.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DANTE! Have a great weekend!
FULL DISCLOSURE: Dante Basco, his brothers and sister went to the same school that my daughters attended.
BY NOW, Comic-Con 2015 has been written about, analyzed and reviewed countless times. But there was something of significance happening at Comic-Con 2015 that has received little notice by mainstream media. Once an innocent gathering of nerds united by comic books, science fiction and fantasy, the convention has become an important venue where all of the big studios promote their upcoming TV series and movies. Amidst the ridiculously long lines, scores of celebrities and hundreds of cosplaying fans, Asian Americans were quietly being assertive. How Asian. It began with the release of the trailer for Into the Badlands, a Chinese storyline transported to the America. Not only did it combine two elements popular with geekdom: a dystopian setting and fantastic martial arts, it introduced Daniel Wu in its lead role. Wu will be the first Asian American action hero since Bruce Lee (we're not counting Kung Fu).
Badlands is a genre-bending actioner with great DNA: Alfred Gough, creator of Smallville and Miles Millar; executive producers Stacey Sher and Michaeld Shamberg from Django Unchained; they are joined by executive producers Stephen Fung and its star Daniel Wu, both of whom have extensive martial arts movie experience. We're not sure how successful Badlands will become but it certainly has a lot going for it.
Asian American actresses Chloe Bennet (Wang) and Ming-Na Wen of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. were on a panel promoting their show. Wen acknowledged her appreciation for being among the Asian American actresses enjoying success in mainstream media but there's plenty of room for improvement.
“It’s so vitality important to have Asian American representation on a regular basis as opposed to as just a token or as something of a caricature and a stereotype,” she said. “At this day and age, (television) is such a global medium that it requires to have more Asian representation because we populate quite a lot of the globe.”
Olivia Munn takes on the role of Psylocke.
In the X-Men universe, two new characters are being played by Asian Americans: Olivia Munn as katana-wielding Psylocke and Lana Condor as Jubilee. (See Munn's fighting skills.)
During a Q&A for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, a couple of young Asian Americans asked producer J.J. Abrams if there would be any Asians in the upcoming blockbuster. He responded with a joke, "Go Asians! If I had my way, the cast would be all Asians," (nervous laughter from the audience). What he said sounds a bit patronizing. But he continued:
“I think you’ll be happy to see when you see this film, there are Asians in this film…. We wanted the movie to look the way the world looks. And I think it is important that people see themselves represented in film. I think it is not a small thing. So I completely understand and think your question is hugely important. And it was a big consideration.”
That statement was met with huge applause, considering the strong Asian American presence in the audience. Other bloggers took him at his word and pumped up the statement to mean Asian actors will have meaningful roles in the new installment in the Star Wars franchise
How important was Abram's statement remains to be seen: Are the Asians in his movie just redshirts without any lines to say? Do they contribute to the storyline? or are they just spear carriers in the background?
Perhaps the most meaningful discussion of Asian Americans in the entertainment industry occurred in the last day the convention in a workshop entitled "The Super Asian America Panel."
Moderated by Racebending.com, this special panel featured actors Chloe Bennet (“Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D”), Dante Basco (“Avatar: The Last Airbender”) and Sumalee Montano (“Beware the Batman”), stunt double Ilram Choi (“The Amazing Spider-Man”) and graphic novelists Amy Chu (“Sensation Comics Featuring Wonder Woman”), Greg Pak (co-creator of Amadeus Cho), and Keith Chow (“Secret Identities”).
As a teaser to the panel's content, one of the most interesting statements was made by actor Basco, who played Rufio in Hook, and grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Dante Basco
The entire panel was asked, "How does your experience as an Asian American inform your work behind the scenes?"
Basco responded: "Totally. I mean, in the last, I’d say… ten years, it’s totally informed my work. Because what you realize, the longer you’re around in the industry, the longer you see that it’s not… equal. It’s not an equal playing ground. And it’s not to blame, I’m not the kind of person that’s complaining how the industry is.
"It’s just that we gotta keep on creating work that’s gonna be different. The great thing now is that you’re seeing a big Asian American boom happening. We’ve seen it happen before with Latino Americans in the 90s, African Americans in the 70s, and what I’ve urged people to do is to create our own genre for ourselves, for us telling our stories, and not… the crazy thing is, you come to Comic-Con and it’s like, how do you perceive things?
"So Comic-Con is the biggest con in the world celebrating the modern arts, the popular arts. And what you realize is that every artist here, every single artist is inspired so much by Asian artists. Whether it be Japan, anime, all this kind of stuff. This is the only place that I’ve been to in America, as Asians we’ve always wanted to be more white or more black, right?
"The Con world is the only place you’ll see where black, white, Latino, other people are… wanna be Asian. And it’s the… craziest… when you really see it like that, as Asian Americans, you’re like, “Oh shit.” Oops, don’t say that. You’re like, “oh my god.” So we’ve gotta kind of start seeing where we do have leverage, where we are kind of leading the pack, and Comic-Con is one of the places where I would say, you could ask every artist on the floor, and you could say who their inspirations are, half of them are gonna be Asians. Which is amazing." For the complete transcript of the panel, go to Racebending's website. 2015-16 is shaping up to be a watershed year for Asian Americans if Comic-Con is any barometer of the shifting demographics of our country. But the entertainment industry is highly fickle. What happens next always depends on how successful these attempts to diversify the ranks of superheroes, fantasy and science fiction. How long-lasting this trend lasts or if it goes beyond being a passing fancy and becoming embedded in America's pop culture is anybody's guess.
IF YOU'RE in the L.A. area and into poetry - slamming' - you might be interested in this event that is starting at 5 p.m. today, July 1, and will continue until the a sufficient amount of money is raised to send a team to the national slam competition for youth in Atlanta later this year. Filipino American actor Dante Basco (Rufio in Hook) is adding his name to promoting the event. DPL & SAY WORD present The Charity Slam. This slam is packed full of celebrity appearances, grand slam poetry champions, musical guest appearances and even gives the inside to the world of slam. Check out the line-up of awesomeness: Dante Basco, Shihan, Simply Kat, Javon Johnson, Beau Sia, In_Q, Thea Mmonyee and Sekou Andrews. The Charity Slam is a unique fundraising experience that you can enjoy and support just by tuning in and donating.
Dante Basco
Basco says this is the poetry experience of the year and you don't want to miss this. Even better ... its for a great cause!
Proceeds from The Charity Slam will help Say Word Youth Poets travel beyond their city streets to compete in the 2015 Brave New Voices International Poetry Slam held in Atlanta, Georgia. Say Word is a Spoken Word Youth Development nonprofit in Los Angeles that has joined with Brave New Voices, to unite young poets from across the world to represent their cities, build a global community and puts the reins in the hands of the next generations. DPL & SAY WORD CHARITY SLAM today! Tune in at 5 p.m. PDT The fundraising lasts for 29 days on Tubestart where you can livestream the event.
