Some Like It Hot: Rosario Dawson

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Welcome back to Some Like It Hot! Once again, I’m Sean, your trusty pilot through the star-studded canyons of Hollywood. While our first starlet, Emma Stone, may be traditional ‘girl next door’ fodder, this week’s actress finds a comfortable spot on the opposite end of the spectrum.

Rosario Dawson is gloriously exotic. The result of a veritable melting pot of ethnicities, she is sultry, sexy, and talented, not to mention bouncy. Join me after the jump for an in-depth look at who she is, where she came from, and what makes her so gosh-darn pretty.

Welcome back to Some Like It Hot! Once again, I’m Sean, your trusty pilot through the star-studded canyons of Hollywood. While our first starlet, Emma Stone, may be traditional ‘girl next door’ fodder, this week’s actress finds a comfortable spot on the opposite end of the spectrum.

Rosario Dawson is gloriously exotic. The result of a veritable melting pot of ethnicities, she is sultry, sexy, and talented, not to mention bouncy. Join me after the jump for an in-depth look at who she is, where she came from, and what makes her so gosh-darn pretty.{{page_break}}

Rosario Dawson was born to a Puerto Rican/Afro-Cuban mother and Native American/Irish father in 1979 and was raised in a squat in the Lower East Side. When she was 15, Harmony Korine discovered her and went on to cast her in everybody’s favorite downer, Kids. From there, she went on to appear in a multitude of movies, ranging from live-action cartoon adaptations (Josie and the Pussycats) and historical dramas (Alexander) to edgy, dark films (Sin City, Death Proof) and sequels to instant classics (Men in Black II, Clerks II). This year, she appeared as the delectable Persephone in Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, (which, by the way, was considerably more entertaining than a similarly-themed big budget blockbuster that came out around the same time). So what is it about this veritable ethnic rainbow of a woman that gets our blood pumping?

There’s something about exotic-looking women. They trigger something deep within our biological mainframes, and as mentioned several times above, Rosario Dawson can trigger an overload. She’s buxom, she’s got a killer smile, and by God, she makes even the most menial job (like fast food clerk) look sexy.

Every guy has a handful of movie scenes locked away for those long winter nights. Maybe it’s the pool scene from Wild Things or Shannon Elizabeth’s naïve striptease in American Pie or even that scene with Kathy Bates in About Schmidt, but for me, it’s that scene on the roof of Mooby’s in Clerks II when Rosario teaches Dante how to dance. It’s not just that she’s as bouncy as a character in Dead or Alive, it’s also the air she carries with her. Naturally confident girls are naturally hot girls. She’s also naked in Alexander, which is pretty awesome.

With so many varied roles comes a range of performances, and Rosario is another one of those who pulls off each with gusto. From her humble beginnings as a teenager having unprotected sex in Kids, she went on to be a pussycat (before it became synonymous with ‘cheap, untalented harlot’), the daughter of an alien queen, the wife of Alexander the Great, the tough-as-nails leader of a gang of well-armed prostitutes, the hottest fast food employee of all time, a grindhouse vixen, and a the wife of a Greek god. That is quite a resume for somebody barely into her thirties, and Dawson makes each one of those roles look good. Next on her list of Menial Jobs to Make Look Good is ‘train dispatcher’ as she stars alongside Hollywood hunks Chris Pine (Star Trek) and Denzel Washington (The Book of Eli) in November’s train-based thriller Unstoppable. She will also play the dream girl of loveable fat guy Kevin James in next year’s wacky talking animal comedy The Zookeeper.

It’s comforting to know that there are such incredibly beautiful women of color in cinema, and Rosario Dawson makes one hell of a poster child. With those exotic looks, that killer smile, and a body hewn by Hephaestus himself, there are few others that can compare to her. Add to that a handful of nerd-bait roles in films like Sin City and Percy Jackson and you have a very welcome edition to Some Like It Hot’s innermost echelon. Harmony Korine, you make me feel uncomfortable, but you brought Rosario Dawson into the public eye and for that, I salute you.

And so ends the second installment of Some Like It Hot. Join me next Wednesday as we take a closer look at Hot Tub Time Machine’s Lizzy Caplan, who has blossomed significantly since her role as the snarky goth girl from Mean Girls.

Second Opinion: Rosario Dawson is, to me, the hottest girl next door ever. Every time I see her in something, with the exception of Alexander, I look at her and go, “Damn! I could probably be besties with her. Also, I’d want to hit that.” She’s got that air of friendliness that doesn’t get overshadowed by being ridiculously attractive. She’s also, and this is important, kind of a good person. She volunteers a lot with gay rights groups and centers for troubled children and conservation groups. Moral is sexy. It’s why Annie’s my favorite on Community. (Here, here. – Salivatin' Sean)

Also, she’s a comic book nerd. Who made her own comic. How cool is that? –Alex Katz

Top Three Some Like It Hot Selections for Rosario Dawson

1. Alexander

2. Clerks II

3. SinCity

Also, if there are any attractive, talented film actresses you’d like to see in a future installment of Some Like It Hot, check out the Some Like It Hot thread in the forums and let me know!

Previous Some Like It Hot installments:

Emma Stone