Steven Spielberg is responsible for a number of classic films over the years, including the likes of Jaws, Jurassic Park, E.T., and even Hook. In regards to the latter, we recently spoke with Dante Basco, the actor who is best-known for having portrayed Rufio in the film.
Basco has gained additional fame for such roles as Prince Zuko in Avatar: The Last Airbender, and he was recently cast in Twitch's scripted sci-fi interactive series Artificial: Remote Intelligence. When we spoke to Dante about his experience on the show, we couldn't help but to ask a few questions about his time acting alongside Robin Williams.
In addition to learning some interesting tidbits about the movie, we also asked about the prequel that Basco worked on called Bangarang. Check out what the actor had to say below!
Joe: I was chatting with my friend Noah, and he had told me a little bit about a short film you had done called Bangarang which is a prequel for Rufio. Can you tell me a little bit about that?
Dante Basco: Oh yeah! I was approached by some filmmakers, Jonah Feingold, who is a USC Grad with his production team. He grew up with Hook and it's one of his favorite films so we met at a club in Los Angelos and he pitched me the full short and I said let's collaborate and do it! So we raised some money for it and it actually went viral so now there are some things in the works for the development and finishing a Rufio origin story.
Joe: That's awesome man, everyone loves Rufio!
Dante Basco: Yeah man, if we can get that off the ground, that'll be awesome. I think people will be pretty excited about it.
Joe: Yeah, definitely. I think Rufio is the perfect entry point to revive this franchise for a younger generation.
Dante Basco: Totally.
Joe: Now we had talked a little before about how Robin Williams helped you get into poetry. I was curious about the scene where the two of you traded insults back and forth and whether that was off-the-cuff or if it was scripted? And how many takes did it take?
Dante Basco: It was scripted! I don't remember all the takes with it being so long ago, but it was definitely a full day's work. It was scripted, but you know with the way Robin is, he's really like the godfather of improv for film and television, at least at that time he was one of the pioneers doing all of that. So we had to be on our toes to do the scripted version and then to just roll with it and keep up with someone who has such world renown, you know, he was one of the greats.
Joe: Sure, and speaking of greats, what was it like to act under Steven Speilberg at such a young age?
Dante Basco: Yeah, I mean, again, I was very fortunate to be amongst some of the literal legends and gods of our industry and I didn't take it lightly you know? I was fifteen at the time and I had been studying since I was ten so I knew who all of those people were and I was a huge fan of things like E.T. and Close Encounters and so many things, especially with Robin Williams. So many things were going on and I was there watching. And you know, with Dustin Hoffman being one of the greats, I would just come to set on my days off in order to study and watch the greats work.
Joe: And your hard work definitely paid off. Which would you say you get recognized for more, Rufio or Prince Zuko?
Dante Basco: Thanks man. It's a generational thing. I think for my whole life I've been "Rufio" to the world at large longer than I haven't been. So I can get into Bangarang chats any day of the week and I think a lot of people recognize me as Rufio, as a "90's baby". And then the newer generation that knows me as Prince Zuko is kind of a phenomenon that happened 15 years later, so honestly it's kind of even depending on where I'm at and the generation of people that I'm around.
What do you guys think of these comments from Dante Basco? If you want to hear the audio component, check out the podcast episode below and make sure you share your thoughts with us in the comments section!
Every story has a beginning. Elle, Sebastian, Ruby, and Justin begin the new journey of the AI to be named. Catch up on the story, and jump in.
Artificial is a Live and Interactive Science Fiction series where the audience changes the story. It is the first original sci-fi series on Twitch and was the winner of the 2019 Primetime Emmy Award for Innovation in Interactive Media.
Artificial: Remote Intelligence airs at 5 pm PST/8 pm PST every Thursday. You can catch the previous worldbuilding episode here.