Rufio Actor Was Unsure About His Costume For Hook

Hook followed the adventures of an older Peter Pan heading back to Neverland and reconnecting with the Lost Boys, but Peter doesn't remember his previous life as an eternal teenager. However, one of the most memorable things about the film is the new leader of the Lost Boys, Rufio--played by Dante Basco. While the character is iconic today, Basco wasn't too sure about his costume upon seeing it for the first time.

When filming for Hook started, Basco was 15 years old, and when he saw Rufio's costume for the first time, it was a bit of a shock. "I wanted to be cool," Basco explained to GameSpot. "You got to understand, in '91, we're hip hop. We're baggy everything, extra large jeans, extra large sweaters. I'm coming to the set everyday hip hop, like I'm from the neighborhood, and then they're like, 'Put on these tights.' Red tights? What? 'Put on these skin tight jeans.' Then, they're like, 'Put on this skin tight shirt.'

"'Hold on a second. Let's cut it and have your belly button showing.' I'm like, 'What? A midriff?' Then, they put on this Michael Jackson jacket. Michael Jackson ain't cool in '91. Michael Jackson was cool in like '85, right? Now I got this Michael Jackson jacket on. It's got all the tassels and stuff, and I'm like is there a loin cloth? What's going on here?"

For as unsure as a young Dante Basco was about the costume and the three red mohawks he had to wear to portray Rufio, he didn't think it was final. "You got to be civil, because it's just a test," Basco said. "I'm like maybe this is not going to be the look. This is just, we're just trying something, and then they bring me around the corner, and Steven Spielberg, they're like, 'Steven, we got to show you something. This is Rufio.' I walk around the corner, and then Steven just turns around real slow, and he's like, 'Yes. Yes.' And I'm like, 'Yeah? Yeah?' I just think to myself my belly button's going to be out for the whole frigging movie. But, now it's cool. Now it's cool.

"I had no choice. Now, it's super cool, but at the moment, you just want to be cool, man. Like, I'm just a 15-year-old kid. I'm still in high school. I got to date girls after this, man. Can I be cool? It ended up being cool, so I got lucky. I got lucky."

You can relive all of Rufio's moments in Hook, as the 4K edition of the movie is now on sale. It features 11 brand-new deleted scenes and the movie is fully restored from the original negatives in 4K definition.