Dante Basco: The Story Behind Rufio, Zuko's Redemption & American Dragon Jake Long | AJ Buckley Show
About this episode
Dante Basco shares his journey from a blue-collar family to becoming a prominent actor and cultural icon.
What happens when a 15-year-old kid with a red and black mohawk walks onto the biggest movie set in Hollywood and ends up becoming the most quoted Lost Boy in history? This week on The AJ Buckley Show, AJ sits down with Dante Basco, the actor, poet, director, and Filipino American trailblazer whose career has spanned decades and changed the game for an entire generation. Dante opens up about growing up as one of five kids in a blue collar family in Pittsburgh, California, breakdancing on the streets of San Francisco with his brothers as part of the Street Freaks, winning 34 competitions in one year, and dancing for the San Francisco Ballet Company before he was even 10 years old. He shares how his family moved to LA with nothing but a dream, how he landed his first auditions, and the surreal moment he walked into Steven Spielberg's office at Amblin Entertainment, played arcade games with other kids, and had a conversation about Midnight Cowboy that changed his life forever. AJ and Dante dive deep into what it was like filming Hook in 1991 with Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman, and Bob Hoskins, how Dustin Hoffman used method acting to get under his skin, the emotional death scene…
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