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When she's down for a few minutes, Rosario Dawson has a lot to say.
BY LIZZIE SIMON
A potent discovery has lured Rosario Dawson to Washington, DC. The kind of discovery
that takes hold when the personal and the political come
together and the city is transformed from a distant symbol of
American power to a more tactile, immediate workshop for
change. For Dawson, especially after the heady thrill of recently
attending the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner,
the capital is a place of possibility.
“I have this little compact mirror,” she says, her tone bubbly but
intense. “It says STOP ME BEFORE I VOLUNTEER AGAIN. It’s so genius.
I can’t help it!” Indeed, the actress is deeply involved in a number
of causes, like Global Cool, a celebrity-endorsed environmental
group, and Voto Latino, an organization she cofounded to promote
Latino voter registration. She recently performed in Eve
Ensler’s Vagina Monologues to foster awareness about violence
against women, and she’s helped raise funds for the Lower
Eastside Girls Club in Manhattan. With such projects in the works
as the sci-fi thriller series Gemini Division on NBC.com; a new
development deal for Occult Crimes Taskforce (OCT), the
comic books series she coauthored with David Atchison; and
upcoming starring roles in such Hollywood films as Seven Pounds
with Will Smith, her career is sizzling.
We need a nap just thinking about her commitments, but Dawson
appears to possess as much stamina as the superheroes in her comic
books. Famously discovered almost 15 years ago sitting on a stoop
not far from the Girls Club site, she was plucked from obscurity by
indie filmmakers Larry Clark and Harmony Korine for their controversial
film Kids. Of Puerto Rican, Irish, Cuban, African, and Native
American descent, she has a strong personality and a phenomenal
beauty that sets her apart from other actresses her age. Over the
years she has steadily marched toward Hollywood’s A-list with films
like He Got Game, Rent, Sin City, and Grindhouse, and every so often
her delivery reveals the street smarts and ferocity gained from a
childhood during which she and her family were at times forced to
squat in abandoned buildings.
Why audiences love her is no mystery. What’s more unusual,
especially in comparison to some of her Hollywood peers, is that
in the decade since Kids, Dawson has become a socially responsible
grown-up. Here, we check in with the multitasking goddess.
CAPITOL FILE: You seem to be involved in enough projects
for 12 women. How do you find the time and energy to
manage them all?
ROSARIO DAWSON: It doesn’t curtail my lifestyle. It still gives
me access to my friends and family. And I have the ability to take
care of some of the people in my life, which gives me a lot of joy.
But I care about health. I care about poverty. I care about the environment.
And all of those things collapse onto one another. I
couldn’t pick one over the others. I’m an actress anyway, so it’s
kind of my nature to play a lot of different roles.
CF: What’s your favorite thing about Washington, DC?
RD: I love the fact that when you fly into Dulles, it’s so green and
beautiful. And I love the diversity of the neighborhoods. It’s a
very interesting microcosm of the rest of the country.
CF: What were your impressions of the White House
Correspondents’ Association Dinner and our afterparty?
RD: It was like prom night in DC! To have a personal perspective
on the mix of celebrities, media, senators, and congresspeople
was amazing. Just seeing the people behind the media—that
they’re actually just people!—and knowing that all the things I’m
interested in are issues that matter to everybody. Also, the Capitol
File party was quite an event, and I felt great to be there. It was the
first time that I’d been to the Newseum, and it was really special.
CF: Are you dating anyone?
RD: I am.
CF: What can you tell us about him?
RD: He’s a DJ. He’s from Paris and he’s lived all over the world,
from Morocco to Hong Kong, so he’s very worldly. We were
friends for a year, and we started dating about six or seven
months ago. He just turned 33. It’s amazing to be in an adult
relationship.
CF: How does he fit into your life?
RD: Well, luckily, he’s also an artist, so he has a different kind of
work schedule. And we were friends for a long time, so he knew
my travel schedule. We both walked into this consciously, and
we’ll take it as it comes. We’re conscious of the lifestyle choices
we’ve created.
CF: You’re one of the cofounders of Voto Latino.
What do you think prevents people from voting?
RD: There are countries where there are mandates and there are
other places where people are completely shut down and don’t
vote at all. [In this country,] people have fought for the right to
vote, but we’re kind of [past that now]. I think the drive isn’t as
strong as it was 20 or 30 years ago. But the issues we have right
now—the war, healthcare, housing, and the economy—these are
affecting our daily lives. How we vote in November will very
much affect our paychecks, but sometimes the application of how
this will affect us is lost. How do we change that? Latinos are the
largest minority in this country. We need to make it a priority to
bring more people into the conversation. It’s not just a Latin issue,
it’s an American issue.
CF: We often hear about the Latin vote swinging one way or
another. Do you think there’s a unified Latin vote?
RD: No, not at all. You’ve got a younger bloc, you’ve got an older
bloc, and they’re totally different. You’ve got Spanish-speakers,
you’ve got non-Spanish-speakers. They’re coming from South
America, they’re coming from the islands. There’s first, second,
third, and fourth generations. All of the different variables make
people think differently, act differently, and vote differently. And
that’s why the whole idea of the monolithic voting bloc in the
Latin community just doesn’t make any sense.
CF: Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. recently did
a show on PBS revealing the precise proportional ethnic
identities of African American celebrities through DNA
and historical data. As someone of mixed race, are you
interested in knowing more about your roots?
RD: What I think is kind of fascinating is that the dad I grew up
with is not my biological dad. He’s the dad I’ve always known. He
started dating my mom when she was pregnant with me. The last
time I saw my biological father, I was around four. I don’t have any
recollection of him, but he’s where I get my Irish ancestry. But I
didn’t feel the lack in my life. The dad who wasn’t ready or wanting
to be there was very much replaced by the one who wanted to
be, and he’s such an amazing figure in my life. It’s phenomenal. So
history does impress me, and I’m curious, but I don’t give it as
much relevance as the present, because it can stop you from being
really present, and that’s what my whole life is about, with acting
and traveling as much as I do. There are very present issues all the
time, so the past doesn’t compel me as much as having a good relationship
with my dad now. That’s much more pressing to me.
RD: The show had a more anthropological viewpoint.
RD:Well, that’s different. When I went to Puerto Rico for the first
time and I finally met a person in my family that I looked like, that
was really compelling, because I’m darker than my brother, I’m
darker than my mom. I was like, Oh! This is where I come from.
That’s really interesting to me. Most people have one or two
nationalities inside them, but I have several, and a lot of those
were enslaved or raped and [their countries] pillaged. I think it’s
fascinating how comfortable we are with looking at our past, and
how we feel [about] that reflects on us. It can shape a lot of who we
are and how we behave in the world.
RD: You’re 29, which is often a very powerful and
transformational age for women. Have you found that
to be true for you?
RD: I think it very much is! I’m excited to be past self-involved,
which you get in your 20s, and you can’t help it. Your body keeps
changing every five minutes, and your emotions are changing
every five minutes. That’s what you think the whole world is.
Twenty-nine seems really interesting. It’s a goodbye to older ways
of thinking. I’m that much removed from 20. I’m that much more
engrained in my work and in my life. I’m no longer a child. I rely
on myself, and I have for a long time. But I’m comfortable with
that. It’s an interesting time of reevaluation, and I’m really enjoying
it. I’m excited about what’s to come. ★
| The complete article appears on page 108 in the Summer 2008 issue of Capitol File. SUBSCRIBE NOW and get Capitol File delivered direct. |
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