Rosario Dawson-Latina Magazine Sept 2012

ON PLAYING BY HER OWN RULES IN HOLLYWOOD, POLITICS AND LIFE

THE SEASONS HOTTEST COLORSACCESSORIES WERE LOVING NOWSTUNNING MAKEOVERS

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ROSARIODAWSON

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BY AMY ELISA KEITH PHOTOGRAPHS BY YU TSAI

DAWSONS

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When shes draped in vintage-inspired gowns and channeling a glamorous 1940s screen siren with all of Los Angeles as her backdrop at her Latina cover shoot, its easy to be confused (and a li!le shocked) when Rosario Dawson says, Im so silly. Oh no, please dont tell us shes just another self-deprecating Hollywood star. Hardly. As soon as the photographer yells for a break on the sweeping terrace of screen legend James Deans former house, the actress breaks into a verse of Salt-n-Pepas None of Your Businesscomplete with requisite hip-hop ba!le stance. I cant believe I knew that song when I was like 14 years old, she says to the crew just seconds before some-oneahemcracks a joke about underarm hair and Dawsons modelesque pout breaks to unleash an infectious cackle. This is all wildly inappropriate, she exclaims. WHETHE

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But wild and a bit messy is exactly how the multifaceted Dawson likes things. A few days later, the 33-year-old Puerto Rican and Cuban actress races to her favorite low-key brunch spot in Venice, Calif. (on her old bike, aka her rust wagon), for her usual huevos rancheros, dashing in just a few minutes behind schedule. Dawson has shed the front-of-camera glam for shower-wet hair, a makeup-free face and a pink linen frock. Thinking back to the photo shoot, Dawson sips her mimosa, saying, People never think Im goofy. I just cant tell everyone Im goofy.

She launches into an impersonation of a drunk James Brown that she saw on YouTube, snickering, Ive always been this way.

Goofy? Yes. Glamorous, well, that took some time to perfect. Thinking back to her teenage years was part of Dawsons research in preparing for her new film, 10 Years, costarring ho!ie of the moment Channing Tatum, out this month. Never the prom queen, like her character in the film, the daughter of teen parents was a nonchalant nerd. I didnt brush my hair; I wore platform flip-flops and Converse because I had a height complex, Dawson says of envying her moms six-foot stature. I would roll in wearing my pajamas, just in the nick of time before class started. And thats still me.

But a lot has changed since Dawsons days of tutoring and babysi!ing. If she had a!ended her own 10-year high school reunion, Dawson would have one hell of a life update: tussling with Colin Farrell in Alexander, receiving a donated heart from

THIS IS ALL WILDLY INAPPROPRIATE.

134!LATINA .COM!SEPTEMBER 2012

PREVIOUS SPREAD: Dress, Amit Gt. Boots, Herve Leger. Necklace, earrings and clear cuff, Swarovski. Black chain necklace, Tory Burch. Clutch, Asos.THIS PAGE: Dress, Jenny Packham. Coat, Sportmax. Shoes, Herve Leger. Ring, Swarovski. Gloves, Kiki de Montparnasse.


THIS IS ALL WILDLY INAPPROPRIATE.


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136"LATINA .COM"SEPTEMBER 2012

but she is still fierce, not unlike Dawson herself, who has worked with Amnesty International and green living advocates Global Cool, among others.

Its so rare that I get to mix my work as an activist with being an actress, she says of Chavez, which is directed by Mexican actor-turned-filmmaker Diego Luna. While shooting, Dawson used her bubbly personality to accentuate the movies more lighthearted moments.

They werent these regimented people; they [were] intense but they did have fun

Will Smith in Seven Pounds, enfranchis-ing thousands through Voto Latino (see box on page 137) and portraying Mexican American labor activist Dolores Huerta in the 2013 biopic Chavez, which chronicles the civil right leaders fight for farm-worker rights in the 1960s. Fresh from wrapping filming, Dawson admits to being both excited and terrified by playing this amazing icon, despite her own extensive work on social issues.

Dawson says Huerta, who sent her a tweet of approval, may be in her 80s,

moments, says Dawson of filming scenes where Cesar Chavez (played by Michael Pea) and Huerta strategized over beers. The beauty of being a community orga-nizer is that it is messy but its fulfilling.

Not only has Dawsons activism impacted her acting career, but it also has opened her eyes to the possibility of moth-erhood. On a recent trip to Sierra Leone with a philanthropic organization called Shine On Sierra Leone, the actress became a sponsor to a 12-year-old boy and his family. This li!le boy chose me when I got there; it was so amazing, says Dawson, who helps the young boy, his three siblings and their mother with financial assistance, job support and education through Shine On. Im not giving the money to some family I dont know and just hoping their lives improve, she adds. I give the a!en-tion, love and care.

That kind of commitment is what sets her apart from many actresses, her 10 Years costar Tatum says. The fact that her life endeavors are just as important as her professional endeavors and she values them equally [is admirable].

Shes been really moved by some of the grassroots movements around the world that are pu!ing power back in peo-ples hands, adds Maria Teresa Kumar, Voto Latinos president and CEO. That kind of deeply personal, authentic action really drives her to get more and more

involved over time.As for children of her own, Dawson

says, I have motherly instincts and its really nice to be in a position where I dont have to make a choice on that right now.

The happily single star isnt consider-ing marriage, either, for the moment. A#er relationships with actor Jason Lewis (Sex and the City) and more recently French DJ Mathieu Schreyer, she says its tough to imagine marriage when she is still relish-ing Friday a#ernoons at the park with food trucks and girlfriends.

I WONT BE ABLE TO ACT ANYMORE [WHEN I BECOME A

MOTHER]. ILL JUST BE FOCUSED ON TRYING TO MAKE

THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE FOR MY BABY.

Dress, Lorena Sarbu. Earrings and red cuffs, Swarovski. Bangles and ring, M.C.L. Hat, Stephen Jones.


But the clock is ticking, Dawson admits. My mom had two teenagers and had been married for 16 years by the time she was my age, she says. I wonder if I focused so much on not going the teen mom route that in some ways I went far in the other direc-tion, she reflects, biting her bo"om lip. I have to really sit down and look at what Ive done in my life to figure out why I havent had kids or go"en married. She pauses, swirling her drink with a finger. But then thinking about itIve done a ton.

Friends agree, Dawson says. One of them, actress and mom Jessica Alba, won-ders if Dawson will be able to juggle hav-ing kids with her sociopolitical activities. [Jessica] is looking at me like, I cant even imagine what you will do, Rosario, once you have children, because youre already doing so much, Dawson says. And honestly, Dawson thinks Albas right.

I wont even be able to act anymore;

More than 22 million Latinos are reportedly

eligible to vote this year, so Voto Latino, cofounded by

Dawson in 2004, is organizing voter registration

drives nationwide on National Voter Registration Day, Sept. 25, which is shortly before the registration deadline in many districts. Theres so

much at stake, it really matters now,

Dawson says. To find out more, go to votolatino.org.

1/ LALAHe Got Game (1998)I loved my banana-yellow nails. Come on! They were so Aaliyah. People would call Lala a chickenhead, but at the end of that movie you were reminded that she was just a kid trying to make really tough decisions about the rest of her life.

2/ NATURELLE 25th Hour (2002)

ROSARIOS TOP 5 ROLESFrom a gold-digging girlfriend to a Middle Eastern queen, the actress speaks about her favorite big-screen characters.

That silver dress [I wore] was something, wasnt it? I helped design that. The script was very specific about the dress and what she looked like, so I wanted it to be right and right for me.

3/ ROXANEAlexander (2004)I loved being able to travel [to Morocco and Thailand for filming], study and really get into a character where you can see a powerful woman during that period. Learning about what

she had to accept, her survival and her [masterful] manipulation was amazing.

4/ ZOE PEREZ Eagle Eye (2008)I remember walking into Eagle Eyes set and they had steak and lobster for craft services! I was like, Is it someones birthday or is it a special occasion? It was wild. It was just Friday. I was used to really small-budget films where I asked my mom to make lasagna.

5/ EMILY POSA Seven Pounds (2008)The character was so deep. I rarely get that kind of script on my desk, if ever. So I fought for it. It was hard to get that role.

I wont have time, Dawson concedes. Ill just be focused on trying to make the world a be"er place for my baby.

In any case, there are a few more things on Dawsons to-do list before motherhood takes over. Next on the list: rallying a bil-lion people to stand up against violence toward women alongside The Vagina Monologues author Eve Ensler and her nonprofit, V-Day, on whose board Dawson serves. If li"le girls dancing and scream-ing for Justin Bieber can register on the Richter scale, I want that for V-Day, jokes Dawson with eyes wide open and fists pumping. Im so serious.

Serious or silly, high fashion or beauti-fully messy, on the big screen or behind the rally bullhorn, Dawson does it right every time. Whats her trick to balancing it all? My friend told me once, Youre either going to laugh about it or cry about it, she declares. I choose to laugh.

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Rosario Dawson-Latina Magazine Sept 2012