Rosario Dawson

New York-born and bred actress Rosario Dawson made her screen debut in Larry Clark's controversial Kids (1995). Literally picked off the street to play Ruby, one of the film's titular teens, Dawson -- who is of Puerto Rican, Cuban, Black, Irish, and Native American heritage -- had never acted before being cast in the film. Following Kids, she next appeared in Spike Lee's He Got Game (1998) and that same year starred in Side Streets, a series of vignettes about life in New York's five boroughs. Faithful to her New York roots through and through, Dawson has continued to star in films set in her hometown, including Light It Up (1999), a drama that cast the actress as an honors student caught up in a hostage situation, and Down to You (2000), a romantic comedy in which she played a freewheeling stoner. After jamming with Josie and the Pussycats (2001) and landing on the Sidewalks of New York as a teacher dealing with a failed marriage. In 2002 Dawson had the distinction of appearing in two different science-fiction comedies that met dissimilar fates at the box office. She stepped into the female leading Men in Black 2 after Linda Fiorentino decided to opt out of the successful sequel, but Dawson also appeared alongside Eddie Murphy in the infamous bomb The Adventures of Pluto Nash. She continued to move between big budget films like The Rundown with more independently minded efforts like Shattered Glass. In 2004 Dawson took on the part of the feisty woman who marries Alexander. She showcased her versatility in 2005 by appearing in two very different films. She took on the part of HIV positive drug addict Mimi Marquez in the big-screen adaptation of Rent, and played a hardened prostitute in Robert Rodriguez' Sin City. She also became involved in a legal dispute concerning her maintaining a rent-free dwelling in New York City. She continued working for interesting directors in 2006 playing in Killshot for John Madden, and being the most famous person cast in a major role, as the love interest for the directionless Dante Hicks, in Kevin Smith's Clerks 2. - Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide