Rosario Dawson: a name you may not instantly know, but an actress you will have definitely seen… With a career stretching over two decades, and over 100 credits on IMDB, Rosario Dawson certainly has a face – or voice – you will recognise. From the musical dramas, voice acting and TV, she’s done it all.
To celebrate the release of Wonder Woman: Bloodlines on Blu-ray and DVD now, in which she voices the inimitable Wonder Woman, we’re taking a look back at Rosario’s career and reminding ourselves of some of the amazing characters she’s played.
Landing her first acting role in Kids (1995), Rosario went on to star in sports drama He Got Game by Spike Lee (1998), sci-fi classic Men In Black II alongside Will Smith, and musical drama Rent (2005) in which she played the exotic dancer Mimi Marquez.
Gail – Sin City
Based on Frank Miller’s graphic novel of the same name, the groundbreaking American Crime Anthology film Sin City (2005) and the follow up Sin City: A Dame To Kill For (2014) are violent crime noirs, exploring the dark and miserable town, Basin City, through the eyes of its roughest characters.
Rosario starred alongside actors such as Jessica Alba, Benicio del Toro, Brittany Murphy, Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis, and Elijah Wood, to play Gail, a prostitute, dominatrix and one of the authority figures of Old Town. At six feet tall, wearing an outfit made of leather, fishnet stockings and metal studs, Gail is hard to miss and often seen wielding a Uzi submachine gun. Frank Miller once said that that Gail’s character is comparable, in many ways, to that of Catwoman.
The film opened to wide critical success, particularly recognisable for it’s unique colour grading which is mostly black and white but adding colour to selected objects.
Claire Temple – Marvel Cinematic Universe
Created as a nurse who gives medical aid to vigilantes, the character Claire Temple (MCU’s version of Night Nurse from the comics), first appeared in the first season of Daredevil (2015) played by Dawson.
The actor then signed with Marvel to return for the second season of Daredevil, alongside a deal that allows the character to appear in any other Marvel Netflix series leading to her reprising her role in Jessica Jones (2015), taking on a love interest role in Luke Cage (2016–2018), Iron Fist (2017–2018), and The Defenders (2017).
Speaking about her work connecting the various shows across the franchise, Marvel Television head Jeph Loeb explained that it was due to Dawson’s performance, saying, “It wasn’t just that Claire fit so well in those worlds, it’s that Rosario fit so well in those worlds.” The character has also appeared in a Jessica Jones tie-in comic (2015).
Wonder Woman – DC Universe Movies
In 2015, Rosario adopted the voice of undoubtedly the most popular female superhero of all time, the feminist icon, Wonder Woman in Justice League: Throne of Atlantis, the second of her DC Animation Universe Movies after voicing Artemis in Wonder Woman in 2009. In the movie, she teamed up with the Justice League to fight super villain Ocean Master.
She has since voiced the heroine, official title Diana of Themyscira, in five further animations, Justice League vs. Teen Titans (2016), Justice League Dark (2017), The Death of Superman (2018), Reign Of The Supermen (2019) and most recently Wonder Woman’s own feature, Wonder Woman: Bloodlines (2019).
From the island Themyscira, Diana of Themyscira has no father and was created out of clay, brought to life by the gods of Olympus. In Wonder Woman: Bloodlines, Diana chooses to save fighter pilot Steve Trevor and return him to his home in America. Fulfilling the role of both ambassador as well as protector, Diana soon earns the name Wonder Woman from the gracious people of Earth. Equally strong in body, heart and will, she makes it her mission to help a troubled young girl enlisted by a deadly organisation known as Villainy, Inc., whose criminal members have their sights set on invading Themyscira, Diana’s paradise home.
Wonder Woman: Bloodlines is out now on Digital Download, Blu-ray and DVD. Get all the latest sci-fi news with every issue of SciFiNow.
