Rosario Dawson Covers Ocean Drive Magazine‏

Image by Nigel Parry

The beautiful actress, and co-founder of non-partisan organization Voto Latino, Rosario Dawson, opens up to the glossy about whether she has plans to start her own family, why she’s ‘perfectly imperfect,’ her upcoming role as civil rights activist Dolores Huerta in Cesar Chavez and much more.

On whether she would ever start her own family
I have always had a very strong mothering instinct. My first job ever was babysitting and tutoring. I would even tutor and babysit my peers’ younger siblings! Today, I work with a lot of different organizations and public schools, and I have a family that I sponsor in Sierra Leone that I love, and my godchildren. That mothering part of me has just always been in action. I wouldn’t be surprised to have it evolve and transform.

On the key messages she would want to get across if she were profiling herself
I’m very human. The more I see my flaws, I see them with perspective. I’m a very optimistic and passionate person. I love that I’m still in awe of so many things. I love learning and challenging myself and trying things, and I’m not afraid to be weird or silly or outrageous at all. I can be really shy, which I know can be surprising, but I do like to deliberate on things and take my time and figure stuff out. I feel really grateful that I grew up with people who were really human, too. I’m not a perfect human being, but I think that’s what makes me perfect. We’re all perfectly imperfect.

On her new film Cesar Chavez, the upcoming biopic of the Latin American civil rights activist (Note: Dawson, too, is an activist for Latin Americans – having co-founded non-partisan organization Voto Latino) A lot of the issues in this film are still very imminent: immigration, labor rights, and unions—watching the movie, it feels like you’re watching the news today. It’s really good for perspective and to see just how interconnected all of these things are. Dolores was a feminist before feminism was even a word! When I watch this movie, I feel like it’s Activism 101. The film really shows how together we can make a big impact and really help people—and how transformative that is.

On being a working actress for the past 20 years
I’m proud I’m still doing it. I’m proud that I’m still feeling challenged, that I’m still working on things that scare me a bit or inspire me, and that I still get to do what I love. As a woman in her 30s, I know I’m supposed to feel like I’m about to have a nail put in my coffin or something. But I don’t. Actors I’ve always admired have acted until pretty much the end.I work a lot more now than I used to when I was really young. I was scared throughout almost my entire career that I wouldn’t have one, and then 20 years later, I’ve done over 50 films, so I’ve stopped worrying about that.