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Exclusive Interview with Dante Basco, the Original Rufio in Hook
Posted by Billy on Feb 17th 2017 at 12:12 am
TriStar Pictures
Roughly 25 years ago, Steven Spielberg rounded up an ensemble cast and put a new spin on Peter Pan. Hook was a box-office hit, and it has since won a devoted following, especially among 90s nostalgia enthusiasts. Dante Basco, in one of his first film roles, played Rufio, the leader of the Lost Boys in Pan’s absence and one of the most memorable characters in a movie filled to the brim with memorable characters.
Now, Mr. Basco is teaming up with director Jonah Feingold and producer Rawn Ericson to produce Bangarang, a prequel that looks at Rufio’s origins.
I had a chance to speak with Mr. Basco, who is acting as an executive producer on Bangarang.
Billy: You did a singular job capturing Rufio in Hook and really establishing him as a memorable character that stood out in a movie filled to the brim with standout elements. What was your thought process for the energy of the character at the time? What was your opinion of Rufio when you first read the screenplay for Hook?
Dante: I'm not sure if there was a real thought process... I was a young actor and I went into it knowing it was an important film. I mean, it's Spielberg and Hoffman with Robin Williams playing Peter Pan. These are gods in our industry. And Peter Pan is more than a franchise... its a fairytale. My biggest thing is, I just wanted to be prepared. I worked with my acting coach before working on the set. I knew I was the new "Pan" the least of the lost boys. I wanted to be strong. But I was 15 years old... I kinda wanted to be cool too. Thankfully it worked out.
B: Fans of the Emmy-winning series Avatar: The Last Airbender probably know you best as the voice of Zuko. Did anything stick out to you about working on a series with such a devoted and passionate fan base?
D: I may be the luckiest actor in Hollywood. I've been fortunate to have a long career now in this town, three decades now. I'm a working actor in this town like many others, somehow I stumbled upon two characters now that have become so beloved by fanbases. At the beginning of doing ATLA, I thought I was just a bad guy. The thing that stick out to me most was how amazing the story unraveled week to week as we recorded. The story was phenomenal.
B: You’ve been acting in film and TV pretty much constantly for the last three decades. Have you done anything specific to stay engaged and keep your creative stamina up during that time?
D: I just like to stay creative... I always tell young actors, to survive in this town, you don't necessarily have to figure how to live while you're working, you have to figure out how to live when you're not. Because when you work, you're so busy you almost don't have time for anything else but the project, but in the down times, which is a lot in this industry, you have to keep your creative juices alive.
As a young actor, it was a lot of acting classes, producing theatre. I had a band. I started a poetry venue, it actually still exist today and is the largest weekly open mic in the country. Now a days, when I'm not acting, I'm writing and producing, theatre, film and YouTube. We're storytellers, you know, we see the world in our own, unique perspectives and we just want to tell our stories. Just keep finding ways to tell them.
B: In Hook, Peter Pan was played, of course, by the late great Robin Williams. Can you share any on-set memories of him?
D: Amazing guy... He was everything you would imagine he would be, he's like the genie in Aladin, magical. He had the energy to put the moral of the whole cast and crew on his shoulders and get us through a very long shoot. And one of my fondest memories with Robin is talking poetry in the morning in the makeup trailer, where he was soft spoken and thoughtful. Dead Poets Society was one of my favorite films, still is. He really supported me writing poetry. I attribute his support to me doing my poetry venue becoming poet.
B: Rufio and the original film have become cultural icons in recent years. What should fans know about Rufio going into the new prequel film, Bangarang?
D: The director, Jonah Feingold, came to me with this project. I love how this generation is being inspired by what we did, being the 25th anniversary of Hook, it great time to revisit Rufio. As a former kid actor, I look forward to casting some new kids and giving them an adventure of a lifetime like I had. And as Filipino actor, I love the idea of bringing this ethnic hero to a new generation.
Bangarang is currently being crowdfunded through a campaign on Kickstarter at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bangarangthemovie/bangarang-a-short-film-about-rufio-before-hook. The campaign runs through March 14: make your contribution today and claim one of the awesome rewards they have to offer.
How long does it take to watch every episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender?
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bangarangthemovie/bangarang-a-short-film-about-rufio-before-hook