Mini 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" (2008), 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 Dawson, 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" (1969). 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 (1995), 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 (1999), Edward Burns' Sidewalks of New York (2001), Spike Lee's 25th Hour (2002) and Shattered Glass (2003). For Oliver Stone, she portrayed the duped bride of Colin Farrell's famed B.C. Macedonian warrior, Alexander (2004) (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 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 (2005), 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 (2005). Of late, she has turned to producing. One of those, Descent (2007), 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 (2001), the Will Smith starrer Men in Black II (2002), Eagle Eye (2008) with Shia LaBeouf and Seven Pounds (2008), 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.
Filmography
2014 Queen of the Night (filming)
Nicole
2013 Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (filming)
Gail
2014 Parts Per Billion (post-production)
Mia
2013 They Die by Dawn (short) (post-production)
2013 Gimme Shelter (post-production)
June Bailey
2013 Chavez (post-production)
Dolores Huerta
2013 Trance (completed)
Elizabeth
2012 Hotel Noir
Sevilla
2012 Fire with Fire (video)
Talia Durham
2012 Syndicate (Video Game)
Lily Drawl (voice)
2011 Five (TV movie)
Lili
2011 10 Years
Mary
2011 Zookeeper
Kate
2011 Girl Walks Into a Bar
June
2010 Unstoppable
Connie
2010 Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
Persephone
2010/II Awake (short)
Robin
2009 The Haunted World of El Superbeasto
Velvet Von Black (voice)
2009 Wonder Woman (video)
Artemis (voice)
2008 Seven Pounds
Emily Posa
2008 Killshot
Donna
2008 Gemini Division (TV series)
Anna Diaz
2008 Eagle Eye
Zoe Perez
2008 Explicit Ills
Babo's Mom
2008 La Pasion de la Decision (TV series)
Carmen
2007 Robot Chicken (TV series)
Clara Palmer / Dean's Girlfriend / Woman
2007 Death Proof
Abernathy
2007 Descent
Maya
2007 Grindhouse
Abernathy (segment "Death Proof")
2006 Clerks II
Becky
2006 A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints
Laurie
2005 Rent
Mimi Marquez
2005 Little Black Dress (short)
Haley
2005 Sin City
Gail
2005 Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure (Video Game)
Tina (voice)
2005 This Revolution
Tina Santiago
2004 Alexander
Roxane
2003 The Rundown
Mariana
2003 Shattered Glass
Andy Fox
2003 This Girl's Life
Martine
2002 25th Hour
Naturelle Riviera
2002 The Adventures of Pluto Nash
Dina Lake
2002 Men in Black II
Laura Vasquez
2002 The First $20 Million Is Always the Hardest
Alisa
2002 Ash Wednesday
Grace Quinonez
2002 Love in the Time of Money
Anna
2001 Chelsea Walls
Audrey
2001 Trigger Happy
Dee
2001 Sidewalks of New York
Maria
2001 Josie and the Pussycats
Valerie Brown
2000 King of the Jungle
Veronica
2000 Down to You
Lana
1999 Light It Up
Stephanie Williams
1998 Side Streets
Marisol Hidalgo
1998 He Got Game
Lala Bonilla
1997 Girls Night Out (short)
1995 Kids
Ruby
