‘Watchmen’ director Dave Gibbons has leaked that Dawson is considered to be the ideal choice to play one of the most iconic women in American history , saying  “I know a great favorite of Frank Miller’s is Rosario Dawson, who was in Sin City and has been in some other things.” He shed more light on the subject when he said, “Her name is not in anybody’s frame but I do think that it would be an wonderful part for an actress because she is a very strong character.”

“Frank and I have been in love with Martha since we first created her and I’d like to think that maybe movie-goers would be as well,” stressed Gibbon.

From humble beginnings, Rosario was discovered at fifteen years old sitting on her stoop and asked to be in a film, Kids, which would ultimately change her life. Rosario tells us how she fell in love with the play ‘Rent’ because she understood it so well in relation to her own life, and although she had never sung or danced professionally she got the part.

Rosario’s story is one of inspiration, ambition and determination - and is not to be missed.

Rosario plays a young mother to a severely asthmatic child, who is struggling to provide her son with adequate care; but it wasn’t just the chance to support art house cinema which attracted Rosario to film, it was also the opportunity to honour her friends and family, and highlight today’s problems with health care.

“My character doesn’t have a name. I’m Babo’s mom. To look at that and be like I’m this young mother, I’m uneducated, I’m inexperienced and I have zero resources. I grew up in an area where I know so many women who are like that and that was the story I wanted to tell.”

Asthma struck another maternal chord in Dawson as well. “It was very profound for me because my mom is asthmatic and she lives far away from me. I think about that all the time. I’ve seen her in situations where she couldn’t breathe. We get out of a car and we’re in a neighborhood that has really bad smog and she totally just can not breathe. It’s such a helpless feeling to be in front of.”

Explicit Ills is set for release in March - and that isn’t the only film we should expect from Rosario this year amid rumours that Sin City 2’s script is complete and that the project could get started this year. Rosario, who plays Gail said:

“I don’t think she’s going to be popping out any babies and singing any songs or anything like that. What’s actually really fun about it is that we get to investigate it a little bit more into the storyline that was actually in ‘Sin City 2′ - that middle chapter which is where Gail mostly was”

For all of Rosario’s news, stay tuned to her channel here on t5m.

‘It was wonderful to be able to come back and be like, OK I’m happy to come here and host these events and bring attention to this organisation which is helping young girls help themselves.’

Clearly touched by the work that the organisation does and the feats that they have achieved and still strive to achieve, it’s nice to see that she is not only proud of her roots but is willing to give something back.

Hannah Berry

Growing up in a railroad apartment, Rosario’s mother fell pregnant when she was only 16, giving birth at 17 and was married to Rosario’s father by the time she was 18 years old. Dawson reflects on her appreciation for her mother’s strength of character, more so when she decided to move from the railroad apartment to a squat because she could see through hard graft that she would be able to make it a home for her family.

Rosario clearly admires her mother who gave up more than most in order to have her daughter at such a young age which resulted in her being isolated amongst her own community. ‘Now everyone is like, “Oh my God! You made the right decision” but back then people were not treating her that way.’

‘It was her sacrifices that put me where I am today and, thankfully, also those sacrifices which make me really appreciative of where I am at today.’ At the end of the day it’s Rosario and her mother who are laughing because they clearly share a bond that no-one can break.

Hannah Berry

It was a combination of this life altering moment combined with getting older that Rosario suddenly felt a shift in her priorities.

Giving an honest account of her feeling at the time, she admits that approaching 30 she realised there were still a lot of things she was yet to learn. ‘I suddenly understood that there were a lot of things that I didn’t know, and I understood on a deeper level I didn’t know even what I didn’t know.’

This lead the actress and producer to pursue answers and go back to her roots, recalling quality time spent with her grandmother - something she hadn’t done in many years.

In essence, this soul searching brought home to her how time is of the essence and what you do in this life is what matters. ‘I think it’s Orson Wells who says I put my genius in my life and my talent in my work and unless you’re going to do it to that level then I don’t see what the point is at all.’ This down-to-earth East Side girl is far from a material girl.

Being from an artistic family, she was all too aware of how many would kill for such a chance in life. Desperate to succeed and overwhelmed with the the speed at which it all happened, she turned to her elementary school friend, Deseree who was left with job of helping Rosario come to terms with the realities of her situation.

Hannah Berry

Raised by her mother and grandmother, Rosario was discovered when she was only 15 on her ’stoop’ by Larry Clark and Harmony Korine. They asked her if she wanted to be in a film and that film ended up being the popular mid 90s hit Kids. By 16 she had an agent, had moved to New York and took it upon herself to ensure she finished high school. And after 13 successful years she is still going strong.

Though producing is more of a recent string to her bow, it was actually when she was 15 at the Lee Strasbourg Institute that she decided that she would produce and act, whilst her friend Talia Lugacy would go onto write and direct. Many years the fruits of a collaboration between the two finally came into fruition with Descent released in 2007. Also, take into consideration her work for charity Lower Eastside Girls Club, as well as co-founding her own charity Voto Latino and you wonder how on earth she finds the time.

In her own words, ‘acting as it came to me as a career has helped to evolve me as well as someone who understands how we can all change hats and be different people and accomplish quite a lot actually in a full day…’

Unlike many of her contemporaries Rosario seems refreshingly content, ‘I’ve been really glad and grateful that I have a career that has been good and well but has also encouraged me to try out different things that I want to do and be the different people I want to be - not just for playing a character with different lines but actually playing and growing to be different people in my own life and that’s been a good journey.’

Hannah Berry

‘That’s how I grew up, you know…someone would bring a guitar and someone would bring some food and we’d all get together and we’d have candles going. For me it was always entertaining and they were always wonderful people but as I got to get older I realised that they had left from whatever state they had been living in with just $30 in their pocket.’

As her childhood view on the world gradually faded, she realised that these gatherings happened because they couldn’t afford to go out to eat.

When she eventually got round to seeing the musical that she had heard so much about, she was shocked at how well it had managed to tell the East side story and it moved her. Rosario eventually went on to get a part in the movie remake of the show.

Growing up with a HIV positive mentor and thinking the most beautiful woman in the neighbourhood was in fact a transvestite was just another day in the early life of Rosario Dawson.

Hannah Berry