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.
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
thumb|Basco talking to a Zuko cosplayer at [[Otakon 2014.|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
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! 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
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! 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
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! 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