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Rosario Dawson
Rosario Dawson SXSW 2022.jpg
Dawson in 2022
Born (1979-05-09) May 9, 1979 (age 44)
Occupation Actress
Years active 1994–present
Children 1
Awards Full list

Rosario Isabel Dawson (born May 9, 1979) is an American actress. She made her feature-film debut in the 1995 independent drama Kids. Her subsequent film roles include He Got Game (1998), Josie and the Pussycats (2001), Men in Black II (2002), The Rundown (2003), Rent (2005), Sin City (2005), Clerks II (2006), Death Proof (2007), Seven Pounds (2008), Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010), Unstoppable (2010), Zookeeper (2011), Trance (2013), Top Five (2014), Zombieland: Double Tap (2019), and Clerks 3 (2022). Dawson has provided voice-over work for Disney/Marvel, Warner Bros./DC Comics, and ViacomCBS's Nickelodeon unit.

Dawson is also known for having several roles in film and television adaptations of comic books. These include Gail in Sin City (2005) and Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (2014), Claire Temple in five of the Marvel Netflix series (2015–2018), and providing the voices of Diana Prince / Wonder Woman in the DC Animated Movie Universe and Space Jam: A New Legacy and Barbara Gordon / Batgirl in The Lego Batman Movie. In 2020, she portrayed Ahsoka Tano in the second season of The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett, and stars in Disney+ original series Ahsoka. In 2021, she had a recurring role in the Dwayne Johnson autobiographical comedy series Young Rock.

Early life

Rosario Dawson was born on May 9, 1979, in New York City. Her mother, Isabel Celeste, is of Puerto Rican, Taíno, Cuban and African ancestry. Isabel was 17 years old when Rosario was born; she never married Rosario's biological father, Patrick C. Harris. When Dawson was a year old, Isabel married Greg Dawson, a construction worker. Isabel and Greg moved into a reclaimed building on East 13th Street after being approved as members of an affordable housing plan. The family later moved to Garland, Texas.

Career

As a child, Dawson made a brief appearance on Sesame Street. At the age of 15, she was discovered on her front-porch step by photographer Larry Clark and Harmony Korine, with Korine deciding that she was perfect for a part he had written in his screenplay for the 1995 film Kids. She went on to star in varied roles, including independent films and blockbusters such as He Got Game, Men in Black II and Rent.

416px cropped Rosario Dawson
Dawson at the 1st Streamy Awards in March 2009

In 1998, Dawson provided an introductory voice-over for the remixed version of Prince's single "1999". The voice-over was a commentary on the state of the world in the next to last year before the new millennium. The following year, she appeared in The Chemical Brothers' video for the song "Out of Control" from the album Surrender. 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 introduction and a brief interlude towards the end.

In 2001, she appeared in the film Josie and the Pussycats as band member Valerie Brown and had a role in Chelsea Walls, the directorial debut of Ethan Hawke.

Dawson starred opposite Edward Norton in the Spike Lee drama 25th Hour (2002). In the 2004 Oliver Stone film Alexander, she played Roxana, the wife of Alexander the Great. In 2005, Dawson made her stage debut as Julia in the Public Theater's "Shakespeare in the Park" revival of Two Gentlemen of Verona.

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. For her role in Rent, Dawson won the Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture.

Rosario Dawson Cannes 2011
Dawson at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival

She starred as Becky in Clerks II (2006). In Back to the Well, documentary about the making of the series, she stated that the donkey show sequence was what made her decide to take the role. In May of the same year, Dawson co-created and co-wrote the comic-book miniseries Occult Crimes Taskforce. She was at the 2007 San Diego Comic-Con to promote the comic. She co-starred with former Rent alumna Tracie Thoms in the Quentin Tarantino throwback film Death Proof in 2007, part of the Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez double feature Grindhouse. She produced and starred in Descent alongside friend Talia Lugacy, whom she met at the Lee Strasberg Academy. 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 Eagle Eye, produced by Steven Spielberg. Beginning in August, she starred in Gemini Division, an online science-fiction series. In the computer-animated series Afterworld, she voiced Officer Delondre Baines. 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.

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. 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 films Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief as Persephone, and Unstoppable as railway yardmaster Connie Hooper. In 2013, she appeared in the independent film Gimme Shelter. The following year, she reprised her role as Gail in Sin City: A Dame to Kill For. In 2015, she played Claire Temple in the Netflix web television series Daredevil, a role which she reprised in Jessica Jones and Luke Cage. Dawson's likeness was also used in the Jessica Jones tie-in comic as her character on both shows. Dawson has continued this role in 2017 in Iron Fist and The Defenders.

She appeared in Top Five in 2014, for which she was nominated for the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actress in a Comedy, and in 2018, she played the female lead role in the film Krystal. In 2020, she was cast as the Star Wars character Ahsoka Tano in the second season of The Mandalorian on Disney+ and reprised the role in The Book of Boba Fett and the spinoff miniseries, Ahsoka. In 2022, she reprised her role as Becky for Clerks III (2022).

Activism and advocacy

Politics

Bernie Sanders in East Los Angeles (26936550930)
Dawson at the Bernie Sanders rally in East Los Angeles in May 2016

Dawson was arrested in 2004, while protesting against President George W. Bush.

Dawson endorsed Barack Obama for re-election in 2012, and Bernie Sanders for the Democratic nomination in the 2016 Democratic Party primaries. On April 15, 2016, Dawson was among the protesters arrested during Democracy Spring in Washington, DC.

In mid-2019, Dawson endorsed her boyfriend Cory Booker in the 2020 presidential election. Booker ended his campaign for president on January 13, 2020. Had she become First Lady of the United States, Dawson said she would have advocated for solutions to youth homelessness. On March 9, 2020, Dawson endorsed the presidential campaign of Bernie Sanders, whom she had also previously endorsed in his 2016 bid.

Philanthropy

Rosario Dawson by DINOBRA
Dawson at the 2008 Willow Awards

Dawson is involved with the Lower East Side Girls Club and supports other charities such as environmental group Global Cool, One Campaign, Oxfam, Operation USA, Amnesty International, Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), the International Rescue Committee, Voto Latino, and Stay Close.org, a poster and public service advertising campaign for PFLAG, where she is featured with her uncle Frank Jump.

In October 2008, Dawson became a spokeswoman for TripAdvisor.com's philanthropy program, More Than Footprints, 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, a movement aimed at preventing 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.

Personal life

Dawson is a self-professed Trekkie, who mentioned both her brothers and her love of Star Trek in an interview with Conan O'Brien, and also demonstrated her knowledge of several Klingon words.

Dawson adopted a 12-year-old girl, Isabella, in 2014. In December 2023, Dawson announced that Isabella was pregnant and her first grandchild was scheduled to be born in 2024.

In March 2019, Dawson confirmed that she was in a relationship with US Senator Cory Booker. Their relationship ended in February 2022.

Filmography

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
First $20 Million Is Always the Hardest, TheThe First $20 Million Is Always the Hardest Alisa
Men in Black II Laura Vasquez
Adventures of Pluto Nash, TheThe 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
This Girl's Life Martine
Shattered Glass Andy Fox
Rundown, TheThe 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
Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, AA Guide to Recognizing Your Saints Laurie
2007 Death Proof (Grindhouse) Abernathy Ross
Descent Maya Also producer
2008 Explicit Ills Babo's Mom
Eagle Eye Zoe Perez
Killshot Donna
Seven Pounds Emily Posa
2009 Wonder Woman Artemis Voice
Haunted World of El Superbeasto, TheThe Haunted World of El Superbeasto Velvet Von Black Voice
People Speak, TheThe People Speak Herself
2010 Awake Robin Short film
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief Persephone
Unstoppable Connie Hooper
2011 Miss Representation Herself
Girl Walks into a Bar June
Zookeeper Kate
10 Years Mary
2012 Fire with Fire Talia Durham
Hotel Noir Sevilla, the Maid
2013 Trance Elizabeth Lamb
Gimme Shelter June Bailey
César Chávez Dolores Huerta
Parts per Billion Mia
Raze Rachel
2014 Sin City: A Dame to Kill For Gail
The Ever After Herself
Captive, TheThe Captive Nicole
Top Five Chelsea Brown
2015 Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast Nyx Voice
Justice League: Throne of Atlantis Diana Prince / Wonder Woman Voice
Puerto Ricans in Paris Vanessa
2016 Justice League vs. Teen Titans Diana Prince / Wonder Woman Voice
Ratchet & Clank Elaris Voice
2017 Justice League Dark Diana Prince / Wonder Woman Voice
Lego Batman Movie, TheThe Lego Batman Movie Barbara Gordon / Batgirl Voice
Unforgettable Julia Banks
Krystal Krystal Bryant
2018 The Death of Superman Diana Prince / Wonder Woman Voice
The Need to Grow Narrator Voice, documentary
Sorry to Bother You Voice in Elevator Voice
Henchmen Jolene Voice
2019 Reign of the Supermen Diana Prince / Wonder Woman Voice
Someone Great Hannah Davis
Jay and Silent Bob Reboot Reggie Faulken
Zombieland: Double Tap Nevada
Wonder Woman: Bloodlines Diana Prince / Wonder Woman Voice
The Deported Herself Documentary
2020 Justice League Dark: Apokolips War Diana Prince / Wonder Woman Voice
The Water Man Mary
2021 Space Jam: A New Legacy Diana Prince / Wonder Woman Voice
2022 Sell/Buy/Date Herself Documentary
Clerks III Becky Scott
2023 Haunted Mansion Gabbie

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2003 Punk'd Herself Episode #1.8
2007 Robot Chicken Various Voice, episode: "More Blood, More Chocolate"
2008 Gemini Division Anna Diaz Web series; 50 episodes
Also executive producer
2009 Saturday Night Live Herself Episode: "Rosario Dawson/Fleet Foxes"
SpongeBob SquarePants Herself Episode: "SpongeBob's Truth or Square"
2011 Five Lili Television film
2015–2016 Daredevil Claire Temple 8 episodes
2015 Jessica Jones Episode: "AKA Smile"
2016–2018 Luke Cage 11 episodes
2017 Iron Fist 6 episodes
The Defenders 6 episodes
Waves for Water Herself Documentary
2018–2019 Jane the Virgin Jane "J.R." Ramos 17 episodes
2018 Elena of Avalor Daria Voice, 2 episodes
2019 Weird City Delt Episode: "A Family"
2020 The Last Kids on Earth Rezzoch Voice, 7 episodes
2020 Briarpatch Allegra "Pick" Dill Main role
Make It Work! Herself Television special
The Mandalorian Ahsoka Tano Episode: "Chapter 13: The Jedi"
2020–2022 It's Pony Penny Ramiro Recurring role
2021 Calls Katherine Voice, episode: "It's All In Your Head"
Young Rock General Monica Jackson 2 episodes
Eden A37 Voice, English dub
AEW Dynamite Herself Episode #2.50
2021–2022 Go-Big Show Herself (judge) 16 episodes
2022 The Book of Boba Fett Ahsoka Tano Episode: "Chapter 6: From the Desert Comes a Stranger"
DMZ Alma "Zee" Ortega Miniseries
Love, Death & Robots Dr. Mirny Episode: "Swarm"
2023–present Ahsoka Ahsoka Tano Main role

Music video

Year Title Artist(s) Notes
1999 "Out of Control" The Chemical Brothers
2002 "Miss You" Aaliyah Cameo
2010 "California Run" Neil Nathan Cameo
2012 "Supercool" The Bullitts
2016 "Where's the Love?" The Black Eyed Peas featuring The World
2017 "Family Feud" Jay Z featuring Beyoncé Promo video for Tidal
2018 "Earth Girls" Jesse Boykins III Cameo
"10,000 Hours" Fat Tony Cameo
2018 "The Space Program" A Tribe Called Quest Cameo

Video games

Year Title Voice role(s) Notes
2006 Marc Eckō's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure Tina
2012 Syndicate Lily Drawl
2016 Ratchet & Clank Elaris
Dishonored 2 Meagan Foster / Billie Lurk
Lego Dimensions Barbara Gordon / Batgirl Credited as Rasario Dawson
2017 Wilson's Heart Elsa Wolcott
Dishonored: Death of the Outsider Billie Lurk
2019 NBA 2K20 Isa MyCAREER Story
2022 Dying Light 2 Stay Human Lawan

Audiobooks

Year Title Author
2017 Artemis Andy Weir

Audio

Year Title Role Author Production Company
2021 Batman: The Audio Adventures Selina Kyle / Catwoman Dennis McNicholas Blue Ribbon Content

Awards and nominations

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Rosario Dawson para niños

  • List of Puerto Ricans
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