Rosario Dawson filmography and biography
Date of birth: 9 May 1979, New York City, New York, USA
Rosario Dawson biography
This exotically stunning actress, who has a built in resourcefulness to
her, has been primarily a film player thus far. Only recently has she
been opening herself up more to doing TV (the series
Gemini Division, which she executive-produced), and
animated voiceovers. Rosario Dawson obviously acquired the best-looking
genes from her multi-ethnic heritage, which includes Afro-Cuban, Puerto
Rican, Native American and Irish, yet it is her gritty, powerhouse
talent that stands out even more in edgy, urban filming that dates back
to 1995 when she was only 16.
A rags-to-riches article entitled "Rosario Dawson: From Tenement to
Tinseltown" probably says it all. Born in New York City on May 9, 1979,
the daughter of Isabel (Puerto Rican/Afro-Cuban), a singer, and Greg
Dawson (native American/Irish), a construction laborer, her parents,
who married when both were teenagers, eventually divorced. Rosario and
her younger brother Clay had it hard while growing up and was cared for
by family members, most of whom were poverty-stricken and some of whom
were HIV-positive.
Her career actually started as a child when she made a minor showing on
the children's show "Sesame Street". As the story goes, she was
"discovered" as a teenager on her front porch step by two
photographers. One of them, Harmony Korine, was an aspiring
screenwriter who thought the inexperienced 16-year-old was ideal for
the controversial cult film Kids in which she would
portray a sexually-active teen. It took time for Rosario's film career
to kick in after that but by the late 1990s, she had nabbed several
indie-styled films. Since then she has moved into mainstream hits (and
misses) and has surprised viewers with her earthy, provocative,
uninhibited approach to her roles.
Reflecting New York's tougher, tawdrier side as assorted streetwalkers,
homeless moms, drug addicts, etc., her film highlights have included
Light It Up, Edward Burns (I)'
Sidewalks of New York, Spike Lee's
25th Hour and Shattered Glass. For
Oliver Stone (I), she portrayed the duped bride of
Colin Farrell (I)'s famed B.C. Macedonian warrior
Alexander (as in "...the Great"), which featured a
notoriously violent-tinged nude/sex scene.
Expanding her horizons beyond film, she has always expressed interest in
singing. She hooked up with Prince (I) for the re-release of his
1980s hit "1999" and appeared in The Chemical Brothers' video for the
song "Out of Control" from the album Surrender. She is also featured on
the OutKast track "She Lives In My Lap". On stage she co-starred as
Julia in a revival of "Two Gentlemen of Verona" at the Public Theater's
"Shakespeare in the Park" and appeared in "The Vagina Monologues".
She lucked into and got to show off her singing chops in the film
adaptation of the hit New York musical Rent, when
Daphne Rubin-Vega, the original Mimi, became pregnant and was
unable to reprise her exotic dancer role. Rosario also appeared as a
prostitute in the adaptation of the graphic novel
Sin City. Of late she has turned to producing. One of
those, Descent, had her playing a college coed who is
brutally attacked and raped by a fellow student. Her more popular
ventures have thus far included the role of Valerie in the live-action
version of the comic strip Josie and the Pussycats, the
Will Smith (I) starrer Men in Black II,
Eagle Eye with Shia LaBeouf and
Seven Pounds, again with Smith in which she offered one
of her more tender-hearted performances as a woman with a potentially
fatal heart condition.
Off-camera the still-single Dawson is highly active in political, social
and environmental causes and has been involved with such
organizations/charities/campaigns as the Lower East Side Girls Club,
Global Cool, the ONE Campaign, Oxfam, Amnesty International, Parents,
Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, Control Arms, International
Rescue Committee, Voto Latino (which she founded), Conservation
International, Doctors Without Borders, National Geographic Society,
The Nature Conservancy, and Save The Children. In October 2008, she
lent her voice to the RESPECT! Campaign, a movement aimed at preventing
domestic violence.
Rosario Dawson trivia
- Her uncle is a teacher known as Uncle Frank or Mr. Jump
- Is of Puerto Rican, Afro-Cuban, Irish, and Native American descent.
- Discovered sitting on her front porch in New York City and asked if she
wanted to be in a movie. That movie was Kids.
- Attended an alternative school in downtown Manhattan, where she harbored
aspirations of one day becoming a marine biologist.
- Was raised in Manhattan by her mother, a professional vocalist, and her
father, who worked in construction.
- Has a younger brother named Clay
- Lives with Jason Lewis (I) (who plays Jerry "Smith" Jerrod in
Sex and the City) [November 2005].
- Has her own production company called Trybe.
- Rosario's character from Rent, Mimi, is modeled after the
character Mimi in Giacomo Puccini's "La Boheme.".
- Her uncle is comic book artist Gustavo Vazquez.
- 2006 - Co-created the comic book "Occult Crimes Taskforce.".
- Broke up with Jason Lewis (I) [November 9, 2006].
- Originally had a small part as a nurse in the film
The Devils Rejects. Her character was cut out of the
theatrical release after director Rob Zombie decided to remove
the character Dr. Satan. Her character was to be killed off within
forty seconds of her entrance.
- Is an alumna of the Lee Strasberg Institute, along with such actors as
Frank Miranda (II), Mickey Rourke,
Scarlett Johansson, Dennis Hopper, and
Julia Roberts (I).
- She is a huge fan of the Star Trek franchise, and even speaks broken
Klingon language.
- Her paternal grandmother is of Apache and Seminole ancestry.
Rosario Dawson quotes
- As an actor there are times when you're sitting around and wishing you
were working, so you've got to just take it when it comes.
- I'd be taller. I'm 5' 7", but my mom is 6 feet tall. In my family, I'm
short. (when asked what she would change about her body)