Rosario Dawson

Rosario Dawson (born May 9, 1979) is an American actress and singer perhaps best known for her roles in the films Clerks II, Sin City, Rent, Death Proof and Seven Pounds. 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.^[2][3][4] 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.^[5][6] Her parents are now divorced.^[6] Already as a child, Rosario made a brief appearance on Sesame Street. She was subsequently "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 Awards^[7]) 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 new 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.

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 2004, Dawson appeared in Oliver Stone's Alexander as the bride of Alexander the Great, which also featured her in a fully nude/sex scene. In August-September 2005, Dawson appeared on stage as Julia in the Public Theater's "Shakespeare in the Park" revival of Two Gentlemen of Verona.^[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 and unable to play the part. She also appeared in the adaptation of the graphic novel Sin City, where she played a prostitute-dominatrix.

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 throwback movie Death Proof, part of the Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez double feature Grind House.

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.

In 2008, Dawson starred with Will Smith in Seven Pounds.

Later that year on September 26, Dawson starred in Eagle Eye.

On January 17, 2009, Dawson hosted Saturday Night Live.