Actor Dante Basco introduced himself at a keynote speech in Lawson Hall on Thursday evening with an impromptu slam poem. 

“I am a poet. I’m an actor. I’m a writer. I’m a producer. I’m a lost boy,” Basco said. “I’m a misunderstood prince of the Fire Nation.” 

Basco rose to fame through his role as Rufio in the 1991 fantasy film “Hook.” Television audiences know him for his role as Prince Zuko in the anime “Avatar: The Last Airbender” and Jake Long in the Disney animated series “American Dragon: Jake Long.” 

“Honestly, I came because I love ‘Avatar’ and ‘Hook,’” said Jessica Seats, a junior from Nashville studying mass communications. Seats was among many fans of Basco to attend the event. 

Basco, who is Filipino, was invited to speak by the Center for Inclusive Excellence in honor of Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, which is actually in May.

“It’s a little early for Asian Heritage month, but it’s sort of like unofficial Halloween, right?” Basco said. 

Asian Americans are the most affluent minority group in the U.S., with a median household income of $66,000 according to the Pew Research Center. However, Asian Americans are one of the least represented ethnic groups in Hollywood.

“It’s hard to be an Asian American actor in Hollywood. But it’s hard to be a black actor, it’s hard to be a white actor,” Basco said. “It’s just hard.”

Basco discussed some of the unique challenges and advantages that come with being a Filipino in the predominantly white Hollywood film industry. 

“Part of being a Filipino is that you fit into so many categories,” Basco said. “About half the roles I get are Asian, half are Latino.”

Asian American actors in Hollywood only received 4% of all roles in broadcasted scripted programming in the 2012-13 television season according to the 2015 Hollywood Diversity Report from Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies at University of California, Los Angeles. 

“You become invisible in a culture you’re already a part of,” Basco said. “It’s all about business. Hollywood’s not racist, it’s just going to where the money’s at.”

Basco said the solution to the underrepresentation of Asian Americans and other minorities in the film and television industry can only be solved by minority actors creating quality content. 

“In Hollywood, product wins,” Basco said. “At the end of the day, it’s not about us being co-opted by the system, it’s about us creating systems of our own that we are the arbiters of taste for, and then hustling it and getting it out to the people.”

William David Higgs III can be reached at [email protected] or 618-536-3325.