- published: 17 Mar 2016
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Danté Basco (born August 29, 1975) is an American actor, voice actor, poet, and dancer. He is best known for playing Rufio in the 1991 live-action Peter Pan film Hook. He is also well-known for voicing Zuko in the Nickelodeon series Avatar: The Last Airbender, and Jake Long from the Disney series American Dragon: Jake Long.
Dante Basco, a Filipino American, was born in Pittsburg, California, but was raised in Cerritos and Paramount, California. He is the brother of Darion Basco, Derek Basco, Dion Basco, and Arianna Basco. In his early years, he was part of the Streat Freaks [sic] breakdancing crew. When he got into acting, he started taking on minor roles in television. He later appeared in his most famous 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 in Peter Pan's absence. The punk band Rufio is named after this character.
He had guest roles on television shows The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, and had a recurring role on Moesha. After portraying characters of various Asian ethnicities except his own, he portrayed a Filipino-American alongside his three brothers and sister in the independent film The Debut. He and his brothers starred in Naked Brown Men, a sitcom. He played a gay teenager in the 1999 film, But I'm A Cheerleader. He starred as Ramos in the 2006 film Take the Lead alongside Antonio Banderas, where he break-danced as well as performed ballroom dance. In many films he hip-hop dances, as he did in a Verizon Wireless commercial, as well as rapping and breaking in a Sprite commercial. He produced and co-starred in a music video parody of the song "Rehab", called "Wiihab".