The Ballad of Dante Basco

This photo has been decades in the making.

that’s Phil Yu of Angry Asian Man peeking over heads in the background. #stayangry © 2015 Sophia Chang

The Chinese have a term called yuanfen, which Wikipedia defines as “fateful coincidence” and my parents defined simply as people who were meant to run into each other over and over.

I have this with Dante Basco.

The Endless Saga of Sophia’s Yuanfen with Dante Basco

I first saw him as the leader of the lost boys when I was in elementary school in New York.

10 years later I moved to Hollywood with a pair of flip-flops and a newly minted degree from Harvard that did absolutely nothing for my career as a film and TV actor. (It’s also way more freezing here than the pictures show.)

After accosting Ang Lee at an awards ceremony (who already knew who I was because my mother had accosted him in Asia a few weeks ago), I saw HIM.

Dante.

I watched Hook like 20 times as a tween. Now dreamboat Rufio, my future husband (after Keanu Reeves), was standing there in a suit.

That was the very first time we exchanged numbers, which I’m sure he kept framed by his bedside.

After sleeping with the phone under my pillow for 3 months and my door unlocked in case he wanted to drop by, I finally accepted the truth.

He had lost my number.

You can READ THE FULL ACCOUNT HERE. Needless to say, I never saw Rufio again.

October 2011

My bookworm friends forced me to watch Airbender, where Dante had become Zuko. I featured him on my old YA writing blog as the October Crush of the Month and it immediately became the #1 read post.

Then this happened:

The decade-long disappearance (and name misspelling) is immediately forgiven.

August 2013

Just another day visiting the headquarters of Screen Actors Guild for a singing workshop.

Walking out of SAG is him.

“Dante! I’m Sophia Chang.”

“Oh, I follow your blog.”

When he heard I was a writer we exchanged contacts again.

Silence ensued.

Dante, ever-fleeting.

July 2015

I’m attending the red carpet screening of Awesome Asian Bad Guys with my beautiful friend Joz of 8Asians.

Bless you Joz for aZn-ing out in this photo © 2015 Sophia Chang

There he is in front of the cameras.

Pix or it didn’t happen, I say to myself. There’s no escaping this time.

And Dante says, “I still follow your blog.”

…not The End…

Originally published at sophiachang.com.