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Rosario Dawson
Dawson c. 2007
Born	May 9, 1979 (1979-05-09) (age 29) New York, New York, United States
Occupation	actress, singer
Years active	1995–present
Official website

Rosario Dawson (born May 9, 1979) is an American actress and singer. Her career got started as a tiny dancer in the broadway musical Tiny Pete, but is perhaps best known for her roles in the films Kids, He Got Game, Sin City, Rent, Clerks II, and Death Proof.

Early life

Dawson was born in New York City, the daughter of Isabel,¹ a plumber of Puerto Rican and Afro-Cuban descent, and Greg Dawson, a construction worker of Native American and Irish descent.²³⁴ Isabel was 17 when she had Rosario, and 18 when she married. When Isabel was 21, she broke into an abandoned building on the Lower East Side of Manhattan where she and her husband installed plumbing and electrical wiring, in order to turn the building into a squat in which Rosario would grow up. Dawson cites this when explaining how she learned "if you wanted something better, you had to do it yourself." She grew up surrounded by friends and family members who were HIV-positive.⁵⁶ Her parents are now divorced.⁶

Career

Although showing no interest in acting as a child, save a brief appearance on Sesame Street, Rosario was discovered on her front porch step by photographer Larry Clark and Harmony Korine, where Harmony lauded her with praise as being perfect for a part he had written in his screenplay that would become the controversial 1995 film Kids. Since then Dawson's films have varied; ranging from independent films, to highly successful big budget blockbusters, and large scale box office bombs. Among her successes are Rent, He Got Game and Men in Black II. Among her failures are The Adventures of Pluto Nash (which was nominated for six Golden Raspberry Awards⁷) and the live-action film adaptation of Josie and the Pussycats.⁸

In 1999, Dawson teamed up with Prince for the re-release of his 1980s hit "1999".⁹ 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 Millennium.¹⁰ The same year she appeared in The Chemical Brothers' video for the song "Out of Control" from the album Surrender.¹¹ She is also featured on the track "She Lives In My Lap" from the second disc of the OutKast album Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, during which she speaks the intro and a brief interlude towards the end.

In 2004, Dawson appeared in Oliver Stone's Alexander as the bride of Alexander the Great, which also featured her in a fully nude scene. In August-September 2005, Dawson appeared on stage as Julia in the Public Theatre revival of Galt MacDermot's 1971 musical Two Gentlemen of Verona at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park.¹²

She starred in the film adaptation of the popular musical Rent, where she played the exotic dancer Mimi Marquez, replacing the original Mimi, Daphne Rubin-Vega, who was pregnant at the time of filming and wasn't able to play the part. She also appeared in the adaptation of the graphic novel Sin City, where she played the prostitute-dominatrix, Gail. She will appear in Sin City's sequel in 2008.

In 2005, Dawson 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. In 2006's Clerks II, Dawson starred as Becky, the crush-turned-wife of Dante Hicks. As she mentioned in the making of documentary, Back to the Well, the donkey show sequence was what made her decide to appear in the movie. In May of the same year, Dawson, an avid comic book fan, co-created the comic book miniseries Occult Crimes Taskforce.¹³ She was at the 2007 Comic-Con to promote her new comic book miniseries.

In 2007, Dawson co-starred with former Rent alum Tracie Thoms in the Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez's throwback movie Death Proof.

In 2007, Dawson teamed up with friend Talia Lugacy, whom she met at the Lee Strasberg Academy, to produce and star in Descent.¹⁴ On July 7, 2007, Dawson presented at the American leg of Live Earth.

On June 26, 2008, it was announced that Dawson will play Artemis in the upcoming animated Wonder Woman film.¹⁵

Starting on August 18, 2008, Dawson starred in Gemini Division, an online-based TV series.

Personal life

Dawson dated former Sex and the City star Jason Lewis for two years. They lived together in Los Angeles until they separated in November 2006.¹⁶ She has also been rumored to have dated Dawson's Creek star Joshua Jackson.¹⁷

Dawson is involved with the Lower East Side Girls Club¹⁸¹⁹ 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),²⁰ International Rescue Committee, Voto Latino,²¹²¹²² and she participated in the Vagina Monologues. She attended both the Democratic National Convention as well as the Republican National Convention in 2008. In October 2008, Dawson became a spokesperson for TripAdvisor.com’s philanthropy program, More Than Footprints²³²⁴, 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! Campaign²⁵, 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.

Filmography

• Kids (1995)
• He Got Game (1998)
• Side Streets (1998)
• Light It Up (1999)
• Down to You (2000)
• King of the Jungle (2000)
• Sidewalks of New York (2001)
• Josie and the Pussycats (2001)
• Chelsea Walls (2001)
• Ash Wednesday (2002)
• Men in Black II (2002)
• The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002)
• 25th Hour (2002)
• The First $20 Million Is Always the Hardest (2002)
• Love in the Time of Money (2002)
• World VDAY (2003) (documentary)
• This Girl's Life (2003)
• Shattered Glass (2003)
• The Rundown (2003)
• Alexander (2004)
• This Revolution (2004)
• Sin City (2005)
• Rent (2005)
• Clerks II (2006)
• A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006)
• Grindhouse: Death Proof (2007)
• Descent (2007)
• Eagle Eye (2008)

Upcoming:

• Explicit Ills (2008) (completed)
• Seven Pounds (2008) (post-production)
• The Haunted World of El Superbeasto (2008)²⁶ (post-production)
• Killshot (2009) (completed)
• Wonder Woman (2009) (post-production)
• Sin City 2 (2009) (pre-production)

Awards and nominations

• ALMA Awards

• 2006, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture (Rent) Nominated

• American Black Film Festival

• 2004, Rising Star Award Won

• Black Movie Awards

• 2006, Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role (Rent) Nominated

• Black Reel Awards

• 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

• Image Awards

• 2006, Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture (Rent) Nominated
• 2000, Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture (Light It Up) Nominated

• MTV Movie Awards

• 2006, Best Kiss (Sin City) Nominated

References

External links

• Official site
• Rosario Dawson at the Internet Movie Database
• Rosario Dawsonat Tv.com