Dante Basco Revealed Which Of His Beloved Characters Would Win If They Fought Each Other And 12 Other Things We Learned About Him

"You should want to be good more than you want to be famous."

BuzzFeed

Dante Basco, best known for his roles as Prince Zuko from Avatar: the Last Airbender and Rufio from Hook, chatted with us about his work in Artificial Factions, The Fabulous Filipino Brothers, and his experience as an Asian-American in the entertainment industry. Here's everything we learned:

1. After 30 years in the industry, Dante believes his work has helped widen the scope and possibilities of what it means to be Asian in America.

John Wolfsohn / Via Getty Images

"The whole industry, it's been very kind to me. As I said, I've been here for over 30 years, so I feel fortunate all the time and blessed. At the end of the day, to kind of have a career that has lasted as long as it's lasted for me so far in this industry. It's hard whether you're Black, White, Asian, Latino, other, you know, this is just a very hard industry, but to be one of the handful of Asians that came through the, you know, the 80s and 90s, and now to the 2000s, and seeing this kind of golden age happening, it's really wonderful. But as far as how I always felt, I always felt cool. You know, I always felt cool, because I always felt that Hollywood hadn’t seen anything like me yet, you know. So I was able to kind of help widen the scope of what, what the possibilities and what it could mean to be Asian in America."

2. Dante was inspired by the on-screen actors and actresses that came into the industry before him, including Mako Iwamatsu and Cary Tagawa.

CBS, Michael Tullberg / Getty Images

"As you kind of, you know, further your journey along, you understand who you are and all the people that came before you and trying to pay it forward to the generations that are coming after you and learning so much from you know, cats like Mako Iwamatsu, who played Uncle Iroh, and Cary Tagawa, and other guys that came before me. You know, you feel you get to a certain age, I'd say in your late 30s, when you start feeling a sense of responsibility of some sort to kind of pay it forward for the next generation."

"I was just at the Unforgettable Award Show, which for those who don’t really know what their info is, from Character Media magazines, it's like the largest Asian award ceremony in LA. Been going to it for years and me and all my friends, we all refer to it as “Asian Prom”. It's THE Asian prom, we all get dressed up and whatnot. But to see people this year awarded, like Jimmy O Yang, John Cho, Simu Liu and the Shang-Chi cast, and Sandra Oh, you feel a lot of pride in where we've been, and collectively what we're all doing to pay it forward to the next generation."

Instagram: @dantebasco

3. Although he's played numerous roles that left a lasting impact, he can't choose a favorite role that he's played.

Sony Pictures / Via Giphy

"I’m connected to all of them, you know. They all represent different parts and times of my life. Of course, Zuko, I'm really connected to because I've played him for so long– it's such a beautiful redemption arc. You know, Rufio was my teenage years and really my entrance into Hollywood and that platform that not a lot of people get, you know, as far as being introduced to Hollywood by Steven Spielberg, alongside Dustin Hoffman and Robin Williams is beyond words, but there's other films that mean so much to me. Playing the lead in a movie called The Debut, which is the first Filipino-American film ever produced in Hollywood, and I got to be the star of that film. And again, get to have a voice for my community, almost 20 years ago when that film came out. So all these different films take the lead, I got to dance in a movie with Antonio Banderas and I started my whole career as a dancer. So to get to dance in the film was my Grease, my, you know, plug in the musical that you grew up with. That was my musical moment. In Hollywood, it meant the world to me to do that. So they all, this, like, they all mean different things to me, you know?"

4. You may be surprised by who he believes would win if his characters had to battle each other.

"It's got to be Jake Long. It's got to be the American Dragon: Jake Long. Like, he's a dragon!!! He's a dragon!!!!!!! And someone told me recently at a Con I believe they're like, you know, Rufio is so popular. And Zuko, obviously so popular. And they're like, don't forget you have an original Disney character. I'm like, Oh, yeah. Jake Long the American Dragon. And this person says, 'Jake Long is the first Asian American Disney hero. That's true.' And I was like, 'What are you talking about? So what about Mulan?' And she was like, 'No Mulan is from China.' I was like, 'Oh, you're right.' Jake Long the Mack Daddy Dragon of the NYC, he's the first Asian American Disney hero. So shout out to Jake Long! And he's a dragon! I think if he goes Dragon form, he’s taking everybody out."

Disney, Nickelodeon

"I think Zuko is amazing. They've had, like, animations of Zuko fighting all kinds of different heroes and I think Zuko could hold his own for sure. But Zuko was not there to be a hero. They're just, that's part of their culture, that's what they do. Like, Jake Long is a hero. You know, superheroes. They're out there to battle things and then the great thing about Avatar was that they're just kids that also that's part of what they do. That's part of their power, but they're not necessarily heroes. They do become heroes."

5. Through his newest film, The Fabulous Filipino Brothers, Dante was able to take on a new position by becoming a producer.

Instagram: @dantebasco

"I’ve been producing exclusively Asian-American films and Asian, you know, we're Asian, New Asian media for the last 10 years. This is my first time directing, I got to write, direct, and produce this film. I got to write it with my brother Darian and Dion and my sister Arianna. And so it was really beautiful."

6. Although The Fabulous Filipino Brothers may be the first time you've been introduced to Basco's brothers, they've been with him during his entire career.

Instagram: @fabfilipinobros

"It's been really good to work with them. They're amazing, amazing actors. I've been in the game I told you as long as I've been but I haven't been alone. They've been with me the whole time. We've been with each other. They're, they're all really great actors. I got somehow along the way, I've somehow got the most quote unquote famous but these guys have all had great careers in their own right and to be able to give them platforms to really show the world and Hollywood what they can really do."

7. In fact, this film is so special because they are not only working with family, but it's inspired by familiar stories.

Instagram: @fabfilipinobros

"Plus, it's a very unique experience to do a film with your family that's inspired by stories from your family. And it's very unique as a first time director to be able to know that my stars, I grew up with them, like I know. I've seen every performance they've ever done in their lives. You know, not many directors can say that about any actors they ever will work with. And so I think I had a leg up as a director this time, so we able to get some really, I think, some cool things that I hope people will enjoy."

8. Dante wants to keep the momentum of Asian filmmaking happening.

"Download the movie, download the film, let's keep this whole momentum of Asian filmmaking happening. We’re at the highest-profile we've been as a community since the beginning of Hollywood. So this is the time for us to continue to make movies. And again, when I say make movies, it's not just us filmmakers making movies, it's our community making movies. So it's about the community also supporting the movies being made and keeping it moving forward. So the success of any movie leads to the making of the next film. And that's, that's important for the process."

Instagram: @1091pictures

9. Artificial Factions, another one of Dante's newest projects, shows a new way of storytelling and the future of entertainment.

Instagram: @artificialnext

"The really unique thing about it is that it’s a live stream– it's all live– so it's like we're doing theater which is very nerve-wracking for an actor, but very fun at the same time. The engagement with the audience in the comments and the voting polls are really driving and changing where we're going in the script, which makes it extra nerve-wracking for us as actors, but also very fun. I think, for everyone watching it, to really understand that it's really changed, I think it's gonna really change the way we're telling stories, whether it really engaging the audience has a much more of an impact, an immediate impact on the stories being told. We all know out there, through all the IP’s stuff going on, that the audience does have a lot of impact on how sequels get made, and what people want to see as far as “shippings” and things, and with this kind of platform with Twitch, it's happening immediately, which is crazy."

10. Dante plays Zander Cruz in the Twitch series and he had a lot of fun playing a flamboyant playboy billionaire.

Instagram: @artificialnext

"This is a character that the audience created in real-time during my first episode of doing the show, like who am I going to play and the audience is like, giving me catch lines and winking at the camera and clairvoyant. I talked to spirits, and the playboys like it was. I've never put together a character with thousands of people giving their input and voting on what I should be doing. So again, I think there's a whole direction of storytelling and engagement of the audience from the jump. It's really like the birth of this kind of storytelling, and Bernie Su is a mastermind to kind of lead us down this crazy, crazy runway."

11. In the future, Dante hopes to be a part of the MCU or the DC Universe, and we're rooting for him!

Instagram: @dantebasco

"I did get to play a voice actor for a DC character named Karate Kid in Justice League Adventures: Trapped in Time, which I did love that. I was always a big X-Men fan. Like my favorite crew growing up, of course, Wolverine. We all love him but I really loved him. I don't have a German accent, but I always loved Nightcrawler— he was my guy, I really loved him. So, I mean, it's different people within the realm. I auditioned a lot in the DC world when I was younger. I auditioned for Robin several times. So I don't know, I’ve always wanted to play Robin growing up. That didn't happen, but there's a lot of stuff happening in the MCU. So we'll see if there are characters that open up that'll be fun to play. Hopefully, someone who wants firebending skills. That'd be great." 

12. His niece, Ella Jay Basco, was actually in DC's Birds of Prey with Margot Robbie.

Instagram: @birdsofprey

"Shoutout to my niece, my goddaughter, Ella Jay Basco who played Cassandra Cain in Birds of Prey. So, you know, the family. It’s continuing. Again, as I said, the next generation is coming. And so shout out to my goddaughter, Ella Jay Basco, and her little sister's coming up too; she's doing really well, Emerson Basco. Shoutout at Emerson!"

13. Dante co-founded Da Poetry Lounge (DPL), which is the largest, weekly open mic venue in the country, and created a poem to give advice for those who want to work in the creative industry.

Instagram: @dapoetrylounge_co

"There's so much, you know, young actors ask me all the time, and I have a quick poem, I always tell them that goes, 

'Seek out study with a master, 
if you're apt to greatness,
the aim is to impact
or to be a catalyst
for changes.
Forget what your name is,
you should want to be good
more than you want to be famous.'

And I just say that, you know, because I say train, study, it's gonna take a lot of hard work and luck to succeed in this industry. That being said, a lot of times, the better you get the luckier you get. But it's always gonna come back to you, like work on your craft and work on yourself."

Watch the full interview here! (Note: interview starts at 4:50 mark.)

Instagram: @buzzfeedapop

Thanks for chatting with us, Dante! The Fabulous Filipino Brothers is available for download starting February 8th here, and you can watch Dante in the newest season of Artificial Factions here!