Rosario Dawson

Biography: Rosario Dawson was born in New York City to a Native American/Irish contrustion worker father and a Bronx-born Puerto Rican and Afro-Cuban vocalist mother, both of whom have been very supportive of her. She was raised in a Manhattan tenement building, living as a squatter for several months when she was six. Her parents seperated when she was young, but continued to live together so Rosario and her brother, Clay, would be close to both of them. Rosario went to an alternative school and dreamed of becoming a marine biologist. Her parents did not have the money to see shows on stage, so Rosario fell in love with musical movies, buying her first CD at the age of six. Her uncle Gustavo appeared in West Side Story. Her acting career began at 15 when filmmaker Larry Clark saw her on her porch and asked her to be in a movie he was making - Kids.Rosario had a great time filming the movie and decided to become an actress. To this day, she cannot see herself as anything but a singer, dancer, or actress. She attended the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute instead of college. She is very dedicated and that is what has made her such a sucess. A rush of movie proposals followed - headed by Spike Lee for his 1998 film, He Got Game. Rosario also does not have a limited acting range - her career has been varied, ranging from independent films to massive big-budget flops to highly successful blockbusters. She has never been stopped by one of her movies failing and just keeps going. Her favorite roles to play are liberated, strong women. In early 2005, Rosario starred as Gail in the movie version of Sin City - a role her mom claims she got for her. Her uncle Gus was a comic book artist, so she grew up reading the series. Her body was shrunk a little bit to make her look skinner in the finished product. From August to September 2005, Rosario starred as Julia in the New York Public Theatre revival of Galt MacDermot's 1971 musical "The Two Gentlemen of Verona." Later in 2005, Rosario starred as Mimi Marquez, an HIV-positive heroin-addicted exotic dancer, in the film version of the Broadway smash hit "RENT," her first film musical. She had idolized many of the original cast members and was awe-inspired to be working with them. She loved the character of Mimi, who she said reminded her of her mom, but is very glad she is not her. Rosario has been described as being extremely 'kind' and 'down to earth', and is noted for her 'friendly' and 'sociable' attitude during public appearances. She is dating and living with Jason Lewis and taking guitar lessons from her The Adventures of Pluto Nash costar Eddie Murphy. She is still very close to her family, who live in Queens, and tries to see them as much as possible. She has her own production company - Trybe and is working on Sin City II and Clerks II.… Expand