Rosario Dawson

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Rosario Dawson
416px cropped Rosario Dawson.jpg
Dawson in 2009
Born (1979-05-09) May 9, 1979 (age 34)[1]
New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation Actress, singer, writer
Years active 1995–present
Website
www.rosario-dawson.net

Rosario Isabel Dawson[2] (born May 9, 1979) is an American actress, singer, and writer. She has appeared in films such as Kids, Men in Black II, 25th Hour, Sin City, Clerks II, Rent, Death Proof, The Rundown, Eagle Eye, Alexander, Seven Pounds, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Unstoppable, and Trance.

Contents

Early life [edit]

Dawson was born in New York City, New York. Her mother, Isabel Celeste, is a writer and singer who is of Puerto Rican and Afro-Cuban descent. Isabel was sixteen years old when Rosario was born; she never married Rosario's biological father, Patrick C. Harris.[3][4][5] When Rosario was one year old, her mother married Greg Dawson, a construction worker, who "loved and raised Rosario as his own daughter"[3] (Dawson has stated that "He's always been my dad").[4] Dawson has a half-brother, Clay, who is four years younger. Isabel and Greg divorced in 2006.

At the age of 21, Isabel moved the family into an abandoned building squat on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, where she and her husband renovated an apartment and installed the plumbing and electrical wiring for the building, creating affordable housing where Rosario and Clay would grow up. Dawson has cited this part of her history when explaining how she learned that "If you wanted something better, you had to do it all yourself."[6][7]

Career [edit]

As a child, Dawson made a brief appearance on Sesame Street. At the age of 15, she was subsequently discovered on her front porch step by photographer Larry Clark and Harmony Korine, where Harmony lauded her as being perfect for a part he had written in his screenplay that would become the controversial 1995 film Kids. She went on to star in varied roles, ranging from independent films to big budget blockbusters including Rent, He Got Game, and Men in Black II.[8][9][10][11][12]

In 1999, Dawson teamed up with Prince for the re-release of his 1980s hit "1999."[13] The new remixed version featured the actress in an introductory voice over, offering commentary on the state of the world in the year before the new millennium.[14] The same year, she appeared in The Chemical Brothers' video for the song "Out of Control" from the album Surrender.[15] She is also featured on the track "She Lives In My Lap" from the second disc of the OutKast album Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, in which she speaks the intro and a brief interlude towards the end. In 2001, she appeared in the movie, Josie and the Pussycats.

Dawson researching her role in Eagle Eye, 2007.

Dawson starred as Naturelle Rivera, the love interest of a convicted drug dealer played by Edward Norton, in the 2002 Spike Lee film drama, 25th Hour. In the 2004 Oliver Stone film Alexander, she played the bride of Alexander the Great. In the autumn of 2005, Dawson appeared on stage as Julia in the Public Theater's "Shakespeare in the Park" revival of Two Gentlemen of Verona.[16] It was her first appearance on stage. “That park is so beautiful,” she said of New York's Central Park.[17]

In the film adaptation of the popular musical Rent in 2005, she played the exotic dancer Mimi Marquez, replacing Daphne Rubin-Vega, who was pregnant and unable to play the part. She also appeared in the adaptation of the graphic novel Sin City, co-directed by Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller, portraying Gail, a prostitute-dominatrix. Also in that year, she appeared in a graphically violent scene in the Rob Zombie film The Devil's Rejects. Though the scene was cut from the final film, it is available in the deleted scenes on the DVD release.

Dawson at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.

She starred as Becky in 2006's Clerks II, and mentioned in Back to the Well, the making-of documentary, that the donkey show sequence was what made her decide to take the role. In May of the same year, Dawson, an avid comic book fan, co-created the comic book miniseries Occult Crimes Taskforce.[18] She was at the 2007 Comic-Con to promote the comic. She co-starred with former Rent alum Tracie Thoms in the Quentin Tarantino throwback movie Death Proof in 2007, part of the Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez double feature Grind House. She teamed up with friend Talia Lugacy, whom she met at the Lee Strasberg Academy, to produce and star in Descent.[19] On July 7, 2007, Dawson presented at the American leg of Live Earth.

In 2008, Dawson starred with Will Smith in Seven Pounds and in the Steven Spielberg produced Eagle Eye. Beginning in August, she starred in Gemini Division, an online TV series. In the computer animated series Afterworld she voiced the character Officer Delondre Baines.[20] On January 17, 2009, Dawson hosted Saturday Night Live. Later in the year, she voiced Artemis of Bana-Mighdall in the animated film Wonder Woman.[21]

In 2009, Dawson performed in The People Speak, a documentary feature film that uses dramatic and musical performances of the letters, diaries, and speeches of everyday Americans, based on historian Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States.[22]

In 2009, Dawson also voiced the character of Velvet Von Black in Rob Zombie's animated feature, The Haunted World of El Superbeasto.

For the Kasabian album West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum, she is featured singing on the track "West Ryder Silver Bullet".

In 2010, she starred in the movies Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, as Persephone, and Unstoppable, as railway yardmaster Connie.

Personal life [edit]

Dawson dated former Sex and the City star Jason Lewis for two years. They lived together in Los Angeles until they separated in November 2006.[23] She started dating director Danny Boyle in 2012, after having been cast in his 2013 film Trance.[24][25]

Dawson at the 2008 Willow Awards

Dawson is involved with the Lower East Side Girls Club[26][27] and supports other charities such as environmental group Global Cool, the ONE Campaign, Oxfam, Amnesty International, Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, Stay Close.org (a poster and public service ad campaign for PFLAG where she is featured with her uncle Frank Jump),[28] International Rescue Committee, and Voto Latino,[29][29][30] and she participated in the Vagina Monologues. She is on the V-Day Board. She attended both the Democratic National Convention (in 2008) as well as the Republican National Convention (also in 2008). In October 2008, Dawson became a spokeswoman for TripAdvisor.com’s philanthropy program, More Than Footprints,[31][32] involving Conservation International, Doctors Without Borders, National Geographic Society, The Nature Conservancy, and Save The Children. Also in October 2008, she lent her voice to the RESPECT! Campaign,[33] a movement aimed at preventing domestic violence. She recorded a voice message for the Giverespect.org Web site stressing the importance of respect in helping stop domestic violence. In 2012 Dawson partnered with SodaStream International in launching the first annual Unbottle the World Day, a campaign conceived in an effort to raise awareness to the impact of cans and plastic bottles on the environment.[34]

Filmography [edit]

Film
Year Title Role Notes
1995 Kids Ruby
1997 Girls' Night Out Girl Short film
1998 He Got Game Lala Bonilla
Side Streets Marisol Hidalgo
1999 Light It Up Stephanie Williams
2000 Down to You Lana
King of the Jungle Veronica
2001 Josie and the Pussycats Valerie Brown
Sidewalks of New York Maria Tedesko
Trigger Happy Dee
Chelsea Walls Audrey
2002 Ash Wednesday Grace Quinonez
The First $20 Million Is Always the Hardest Alisa
Men in Black II Laura Vasquez
The Adventures of Pluto Nash Dina Lake
Love in the Time of Money Anna
25th Hour Naturelle Riviera
2003 V-Day: Until the Violence Stops Herself Documentary film
This Girl's Life Martine
Shattered Glass Andy Fox
The Rundown Mariana
2004 Alexander Roxana
2005 This Revolution Tina Santiago
Sin City Gail
Little Black Dress Haley Short film
Rent Mimi Marquez
2006 Clerks II Rebecca "Becky" Scott
A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints Laurie
2007 Grindhouse: Death Proof Abernathy Ross
Descent Maya Also Producer
Death Proof Abernathy
2008 Explicit Ills Babo's Mom
Eagle Eye Zoe Perez
Killshot Donna
Seven Pounds Emily Posa NAACP Image Award For Best Actress
2009 Wonder Woman Artemis Voice role
The Haunted World of El Superbeasto Velvet Von Black
The People Speak Herself Documentary film
2010 Awake Robin Short film
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief Persephone
Unstoppable Connie Hooper
2011 Miss Representation Herself Documentary film
Girl Walks Into a Bar June
Zookeeper Kate Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice Summer Female Movie Star
Ten Year Mary
Five Lili TV film
2012 Fire with Fire Talia Durham
2013 Trance Elizabeth
Gimme Shelter June Bailey
Sin City: A Dame to Kill For Gail
Chavez Dolores Huerta [35]
Parts Per Billion Mia
Famous Carolyn Shaw Pre-production
Television
Year Title Role Notes
2003 Punk'd Herself (season 1: episode 8)
2007 Robot Chicken Clara Palmer / Dean's Girlfriend / Woman "More Blood, More Chocolate" (season 3: episode 8)
2008 Gemini Division Anna Diaz Web series; 50 episodes; executive producer
2009 Saturday Night Live Herself "Rosario Dawson/Fleet Foxes" (season 34: episode 13)
SpongeBob SquarePants Herself "Truth or Square" (season 6: episode 23-24)
Video games
Year Title Role Notes
2006 Marc Eckō's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure Tina Voice role
2012 Syndicate Lily Drawl

Awards and nominations [edit]

  • 2006, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture (Rent) Nominated
  • 2004, Rising Star Award Won
  • Black Movie Awards
  • 2006, Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role (Rent) Nominated
  • 2006, Best Actress (Rent) Nominated
  • 2006, Best Ensemble (Rent) Nominated
  • 2006, Best Supporting Actress (Sin City) Nominated
  • 2003, Best Supporting Actress (25th Hour) Nominated
  • 2000, Best Actress (Light It Up) Nominated
  • Broadcast Film Critics
  • 2006, Best Song (Rent) "Seasons of Love" Nominated
  • 2009, Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture (Seven Pounds) Won
  • 2006, Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture (Rent) Nominated
  • 2000, Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture (Light It Up) Nominated
  • 2006, Best Kiss (Sin City) Nominated
  • 2006, Best Supporting Actress Comedy or Musical (Rent) Won
  • 2006, Gamer's Choice: Breakthrough Performance Won
  • 2009, Best Female Actor in a Dramatic Web Series Won
  • 2001, Film – Choice Breakout Performance (Josie and the Pussycats) Nominated
  • 2010, Choice Movie Actress: Fantasy (Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief) Nominated[36]

See also [edit]

Portal icon Puerto Rico portal
Portal icon Biography portal


References [edit]

  1. ^ "Monitor". Entertainment Weekly (1258): 30. May 10, 2013. 
  2. ^ Latina. Latina publications. 1998. 
  3. ^ a b "Isabel Celeste". Sulafilms.com. 2010. Retrieved 2010-11-08. 
  4. ^ a b Mills, Nancy (2007-09-23). "Rosario Dawson grabs life by the horns". London: The Daily Mail. Retrieved 2010-11-08. 
  5. ^ "The Kid Stays in the Pictures". New York Times. February 19, 2009.
  6. ^ Hensley, Dennis. "Rosario Dawson: From Tenement to Tinseltown". Marie Claire. Retrieved 2007-03-20. 
  7. ^ Rosario Dawson. "Using Fame and Fortune to Help Others" Newsweek; October 13, 2008; Page 58.
  8. ^ Adams, Jim (2008-09-10). "New York community fosters show biz careers | Indian Country Today | Archive". Indian Country Today. Retrieved 2010-05-18. 
  9. ^ Drumming, Neil (2006-07-14). "Spotlight on Rosario Dawson". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2007-04-10. 
  10. ^ Helen Barlow (2004-01-09). "Between The Rock and a hard place". The Age (Melbourne). 
  11. ^ Hensley, Dennis. "Rosario Dawson: Actress Profile". Movies.go.com. Retrieved 2007-03-20. 
  12. ^ "Rent Party". Retrieved 2007-04-10. 
  13. ^ "1999: The New Master EP". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2007-03-30. "2. Rosario 1999" 
  14. ^ "Prince & The Revolution – The New Master Lyrics". Retrieved 2007-03-30. 
  15. ^ "SlickMedia.com – August 1999". Retrieved 2007-04-05. "Starring Rosario Dawson of "Kids" and "He Got Game" as a cola-brandishing rebel, the new video is said to deal with a revolution in a fictional Latin American banana republic." 
  16. ^ Brantley, Ben. "Shakespeare in the Park Review; Enter 'Two Gentlemen' For a Sexy Sip of Sangría", The New York Times, August 29, 2005
  17. ^ "In Step With: Rosario Dawson". Parade Magazine. November 6, 2005. 
  18. ^ "SPEAKEASY TEAMS UP WITH ACTRESS ROSARIO DAWSON FOR NEW COMIC". Retrieved 2007-03-20. 
  19. ^ "Rosario Dawson & Talia Lugacy on Descent". ComingSoon. 
  20. ^ "Welcome to GD Files". Gemini Division Files.com. 2008-03-18. Retrieved 2009-03-25. 
  21. ^ "Comics Continuum cast list". Comicscontinuum.com. 2008-06-26. Retrieved 2011-07-30. 
  22. ^ The People Speak – Credits[dead link]
  23. ^ "Rosario Dawson and Jason Lewis Split". Us Weekly. Archived from the original on February 12, 2007. Retrieved 2007-03-20. 
  24. ^ Sierra Marquina (August 5, 2012). "New Couple Alert: Danny Boyle and Rosario Dawson". E!Online. Retrieved August 8, 2012. 
  25. ^ J. J. Anisiobi (August 5, 2012). "Danny Boyle's girlfriend Rosario Dawson gets patriotic in Union Flag glasses as she visits the Olympic Park". Retrieved August 8, 2012. 
  26. ^ Girls Club[dead link]
  27. ^ Rosario Dawson on Jimmy Kimmel Live! 4-9-07 part1[dead link]
  28. ^ "Pflag". Stay Close. Retrieved 2011-07-30. 
  29. ^ a b "Rosario Dawson's Charity Work". Looktothestars.org. Retrieved 2011-07-30. 
  30. ^ "Vidéos MySpaceTV : Rosario Dawson par Global Cool". Vids.myspace.com. Retrieved 2011-07-30. 
  31. ^ Yahoo![dead link]
  32. ^ Rosario Dawson Online (2007-04-26). "Rosario Dawson Online | The Official Site Of Rosario Dawson". Rosario-dawson.net. Retrieved 2010-05-18. 
  33. ^ Rosario Dawson Online (2007-04-26). "Rosario Dawson joins the RESPECT! Campaign". Rosario-dawson.net. Retrieved 2010-05-18. 
  34. ^ Carrion, Kelly (20 July 2012). "Rosario Dawson helps kickoff 'Unbottle the World Day'". NBC Latino. Retrieved 31 July 2012. 
  35. ^ Wilkinson, Tracy. "Diego Luna's Cesar Chavez Movie Marches in Mexico." Los Angeles Times. July 1, 2012. Accessed 2012-10-14.
  36. ^ "First Wave of "Teen Choice 2010" Nominees Announced". The Futon Critic. June 14, 2010. Retrieved June 15, 2010. 

External links [edit]

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