Bernie Su's sci-fi streaming series Artificial has added Dante Basco to the cast of its third season. The series, which streams on Twitch, carries the novel attribute of allowing viewers to influence its A.I.-based story and the characters by voting in the various personality traits that the characters embody on the show. With the COVID-19 pandemic having effectively put a halt to traditional film and television productions, the innovative concept of Artificial offers both viewers and artists a creative outlet under such unusually trying circumstances.
Dante Basco is well known for his portrayal of Rufio in 1991's Hook as well as for voicing Prince Zuko on Avatar: The Last Airbender, while Artificial will see him portray Zander, a rival and former friend to the character Sebastian. With Zander's personality constructed by viewer votes on a previous Twitch livestream with himself and Bernie Su, Zander's role in Artificial's next episode, streaming on Thursday at 5 P.M. PDT, will be a unique chapter of Basco's career. Screen Rant spoke with Basco on his involvement in the third season of Artificial.
How did you come onboard to Artificial?
I’ve been a friend and a fan of Bernie Su for a while now, and during the time of COVID, he caught us all at a really great time to be doing something special like Artificial. So, he asked me if I’d like to join the cast, and he’d figured out a way to shoot during the quarantines since you can’t shoot in a public setting. I jumped at the chance to work with Bernie, and that’s kind of how it happened.
So what did you think of the characteristics your character Zander was given by the Twitch audience?
It was really cool. I’ve never done anything like this, and I don’t think many actors have. I’m always open to new challenges and new experiences. This is the newest kind of thing, so I’m here for the experience and the adventure, and as an actor, you don’t always get to do these things.
Speaking of that, how would you say Artificial is different from other projects you've done?
That really is the difference. I’ve been doing livestreaming with my Twitch team Honor Society, but this was brand new. There were fourteen thousand people giving suggestions, which was pretty wild. It really felt like playing Dungeons and Dragons with all these people putting together your character. I got a kick out of the whole thing, for sure.
So what was your overall favorite part of joining Artificial?
The fact that everything is so new and being able to have a collaborative experience with the fan base out there. I’ve been an actor for thirty years now, and it went from essentially getting a pile of fan mail every few months from your agents and managers and trying to reply to a handful of them, to literally sometimes thousands of comments and requests a day, and something like Artificial and Twitch is a very unique way to create new content that is really, truly with engaging with the audience that’s never been done like this and it’s really cool.
If you could add your own characteristics Zander, what would they be?
It’s a very limited way of shooting it with the pandemic restrictions, so there’s a lot of physical things we can’t do like dancing, martial arts, or swordplay, which would’ve been cool. I’m a rival of Sebastian on the show, and I could see us getting into a tussle. To get into some action sequences would’ve been really, really cool. As the pandemic lifts and if the show keeps going on, maybe we might be able to get into some kind of physical altercations.
On that note, have been any other challenges that have come with the production of Artificial?
Well, our industry is dealing with a lot of challenges right now across the board. Myself now as a producer and a director, fortunately I was able to finish shooting my film before the pandemic hit, so it's been great that Bernie was able to give people in front and behind the camera opportunities to work during the pandemic. Of course, there are challenges with the fact that the camera’s not really moving, its staying stable, so you have to do your whole performance within this small box. It’s also live, so there’s limitations of acting with a handful of people in different places, and doing cuts and transitions. It’s a new experience, and we’re all in a learning curve together.
Actually, what can you share about the project you were directing prior to the pandemic?
It’s called The Fabulous Filipino Brothers. Over the last decade, I’ve been expanding what I do as an artist from acting into producing, and producing exclusively Asian-American films. I’ve done eight over the last year, and I’ve been part of this whole Asian-American movement and this golden age of Asian media in the world.
Looking back at one of your most famous roles, what are your thoughts on Avatar: The Last Airbender performing so well on Netflix when it was added earlier this summer? Has that brought with it a new wave off attention for your portrayal of Zuko on the show?
It’s great to be a part of I.P.s that have stood the test of time, and with Netflix bringing on Avatar and it becoming number one on there, that’s been really impactful. It surprises you when things have that staying power and that its impacted multiple generations now. So I’m really excited to be a part of the Avatar family, and that’s coming back in live-action, and I’m looking forward to being a part of that and continuing to see what happens with the story. The same thing with Peter Pan and having a character that was created in the 90’s and is continuing to live on now, and there’s things that we’re developing with the Rufio I.P. that we can hopefully get off the ground in the next year or so.
With Netflix's Avatar reboot in the works, do you have anyone in mind you'd want to see play Zuko? Is that a project you'd want to revisit?
I don’t know specifically who I would want to see play Zuko. All of that is dependent upon how you cast the whole gang and how the world works out. I’m just excited that Mike [DiMartino] and Bryan [Konietzko] are at the helm of it all, and we’ve had some conversations. They know I’m here as part of the family to help out in any way, and we’ll see as it gets closer how the whole cast comes together. I’m excited as much as anybody else.