Dante Bacso leads in "Take the Lead"

Filipino-American actor Dante Basco co-stars with Antonio Banderas in Take the Lead a true story of professional dancer who volunteers to teach in the New York public school system.



Dante plays an aspiring young Latino dancer named Ramos. Filipino Americans may think the role is timely given the victory of Filipina professional dancer Cheryl Bautista Burke in Dancing with the Stars. Basco was joined in the cast of Take the Lead by Filipino-Canadian actor Darryl Reyes.

Lately the actor has worked mostly as a voice talent on animated series like Disney's American Dragon: Jake Long and Nickelodeon's The Last Airbender.

Antonio Banderas praises co-star Dante Basco


Get news, chat and features @ AsiaPacificUniverse.com

Maggie Q gets combat training for Mission: Impossible III

Maggie Q, the half-Vietnamese actress from Honolulu, said that working besides Tom Cruise was a breeze compared to training on how to rescue a hostage for Mission: Impossible III.

Maggie had special combat training for the film which stars Cruise as Agent Hunt who battles an international weapons dealer played by Philip Seymour Hoffman.


Maggie Q at the opening of Mission: Impossible III at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York. Fashion Wire Daily photo from Yahoo News.

Maggie recently posed before the cameras at the Hollywood screening of the movie at Grauman's Chinese theater on May 4.

Korean TV dramas continue to make inroads in Asia

Korean telenovelas like Winter Sonata and Jewel in the Palace have not lost steam across Asia as ratings continue to go up.

The dramas have sparked pan-Asian Koreamania that has even penetrated to the South Pacific island of Saipan with a government deal for filming of new soap opera.


Korean actress Jeon Ji Hyun at Singapore news conference for her new film 'Daisy'

Korean dramas draw 19 percent of the Japanese TV audience, 24.5 percent in Taiwan, 18.6 percent in China and 3.3 percent in Hong Kong.

They have also become increasingly popular in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. The dramas have helped the South Korean tourism industry and even helped local Koreans make it big outside of Korea.

In the Philippines, Sandara Park, a Korean expatriate raised in Manila rose to stardom possibly with some help from the popularity of Korean soaps.


Chat about the stars at Table Talk!