Rosario Dawson

Rosario Dawson (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 and Unstoppable.

ROSARIO DAWSON DISCUSSES RAPE SCENES


Rapping with Rosario Dawson!



Rosario Dawson - Casting RENT The Movie


Rosario Dawson & Fat Guy Flashes the President





Early life

Dawson was born Isabel Rosario Dawson in New York City. Her mother, Isabel Celeste, is a writer and singer of Puerto Rican and Afro-Cuban descent. She was seventeen years old when Rosario was born, and never married Rosario's biological father, Patrick C. Harris. When she was eighteen, she married Greg Dawson, a construction worker, who "loved and raised Rosario as his own daughter" (Dawson has stated that "He's always been my dad"). Rosario Dawson has one younger brother, Clay (b. 1983). Her parents divorced in 2006.
At the age of 26, Dawson's mother moved the family into an abandoned building squat on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, where she and her husband gut renovated an apartment and installed the plumbing and electrical wiring for the building, creating affordable housing where their family and two children would grow up. Dawson has cited this when explaining how she learned "If you wanted something better, you had to do it yourself."


Career

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.[5][6][7][8][9]
In 1999, Dawson teamed up with Prince for the re-release of his 1980s hit "1999."[10] 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.[11] The same year, she appeared in The Chemical Brothers' video for the song "Out of Control" from the album Surrender.[12] 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, Rosario appeared in the movie, Josie and the Pussycats


Dawson at the 2008 Willow Awards
Dawson starred as "Naturelle," 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.[13] It was her first appearance on stage. “That park is so beautiful,” she said of New York's Central Park.[14]


Dawson at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.
In the film adaptation of the popular musical Rent in 2005, she played the exotic dancer Mimi Marquez, replacing the original Mimi, 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 where she played 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.
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.[15] 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.[16] 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-based TV series. In the computer animated series Afterworld she voiced the character Officer Delondre Baines.[17] On January 17, 2009, Dawson hosted Saturday Night Live. Later in the year, she voiced the character of Artemis in the animated Wonder Woman film.[18]
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.[19]
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.
Dawson appeared at the 2010 MTV VMAs on September 12, 2010.[20]
[edit]Personal life

Rosario dated rapper and businessman, Jay-Z, in early 2000. Dawson also dated former Sex and the City star Jason Lewis for two years. They lived together in Los Angeles until they separated in November 2006.[21] In December 2008, Dawson confirmed on the The Tonight Show with Jay Leno that she had been dating an international DJ whom she met in a French cafe.
Dawson is involved with the Lower East Side Girls Club[22][23] 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),[24] International Rescue Committee, and Voto Latino,[25][25][26] and she participated in the Vagina Monologues. She is on the V-Day Board. She attended both the Democratic National Convention as well as the Republican National Convention in 2008. In October 2008, Dawson became a spokeswoman for TripAdvisor.com’s philanthropy program, More Than Footprints,[27][28] 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,[29] 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.
Dawson is a supporter of Arsenal Football Club. On February 16, 2011, before an Arsenal FC vs FC Barcelona UEFA Champions League match, Dawson wrote on her official Twitter account: "I'll be happy with either team winning cuz I love them both but yes I'm a Gunner first & foremost sooooo #gooooArsenal."[30]
[edit]Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1995 Kids Ruby
1997 Girls' Night Out Girl
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
Men in Black II Laura Vasquez
The Adventures of Pluto Nash Dina Lake
25th Hour Naturelle Riviera
The First $20 Million Is Always the Hardest Alisa
Love in the Time of Money Anna
2003 V-Day: Until the Violence Stops Herself Documentary
This Girl's Life Martine
Shattered Glass Andy Fox
The Rundown Mariana
2004 Alexander Roxana
This Revolution Tina Santiago
2005 Sin City Gail
Little Black Dress Haley
Rent Mimi Marquez
2006 Clerks II Rebecca "Becky" Scott
A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints Laurie
2007 Grindhouse: Death Proof Abernathy Ross
Descent Maya
Robot Chicken Clara Palmer Episode: "More Blood, More Chocolate" (3.08)
2008 Explicit Ills Babo's Mom
Eagle Eye Zoe Perez
Gemini Division Anna Diaz 30 episodes
Seven Pounds Emily Posa NAACP Image Award For Best Actress
2009 Killshot Donna
Wonder Woman Artemis Voice
The Haunted World of El Superbeasto Velvet Von Black Voice
Un-broke: What You Need To Know About Money Herself Television special
SpongeBob's Truth or Square Herself
The People Speak Herself Documentary
2010 Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief Persephone
Unstoppable Connie Hooper
2011 Zookeeper Brenda Kayes
Girl Walks Into a Bar June
"Miss Representation" Herself
[edit]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
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
MTV Movie Awards
2006, Best Kiss (Sin City) Nominated
Satellite Awards
2006, Best Supporting Actress Comedy or Musical (Rent) Won
Spike Video Game Awards
2006, Gamer's Choice: Breakthrough Performance Won
Streamy Awards
2009, Best Female Actor in a Dramatic Web Series Won
Teen Choice Awards
2001, Film - Choice Breakout Performance (Josie and the Pussycats) Nominated
2010, Choice Movie Actress: Fantasy (Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief) Nominated
References from Wikipedia.com