Behind-The-Scenes Stories From 'Hook' That Made Us Want To Watch It Again

How did Dante Basco land the role of his career as Rufio? "I got booked from just one audition, which was pretty cool," Basco said in 2015.

According to Basco, something made him stand out during the audition: “Later on I asked Steven Spielberg why he gave me the part, and he told me out of all the kids that auditioned for the role, that I was the only kid that scared him.”

Dante Basco was only 15 years old when he took on the role of Rufio. In between takes on set, Basco practiced his other passion: poetry.

The young actor was especially excited to talk with co-star Robin Williams about the movie Dead Poets Society. "Talking about that movie with him, he just inspired me to continue writing poetry," Basco said in a 2015 interview. "We talked a lot about our favorite poets."

When Hook wrapped, Williams gave Basco a memorable gift. "My wrap present from Robin was a beautiful limited-edition copy of Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass and that's a great memory for me," Basco recalled.

The gift inspired Basco to pursue his own poetry activities.

In a touching scene at the end of Hook, before leaving Neverland, Peter must choose his successor. But which Lost Boy is up to the task?

Robin Williams upped the emotions by not telling the Lost Boys actors who the new leader will be. 

Dante Basco explained on Twitter: "When they shot this scene... none of the #LostBoys knew who Peter was going to give the sword to!"

Peter ends up giving it to Thud Butt, a noble successor to Rufio.

Handing a 15-year-old a sword didn't scare the stunt coordinators on Hook. That's because Dante Basco trained for months to do all his own sword fights.

Basco revealed the behind-the-scenes story during a 2020 watch-along. "I trained for months before and during filming," Basco tweeted. "One of the things I’m most proud of is that all of the sword fighting you see Rufio on film was me!"

When it comes to cameos, Hook set a high bar. Many Hook fans know that Glenn Close (pictured) sneaked into the film as the pirate thrown into the terrifying Boo Box. But Close wasn't the only A-lister with a hidden part in the film.

Phil Collins popped in to play a detective in London, while two huge Star Wars fans took on a small role in the opening. The couple standing on the bridge in London sprinkled with Tinkerbell's fairy dust were none other than Carrie Fisher and George Lucas.

Fisher contributed in other ways, too. As a script doctor she did an uncredited rewrite on the script to punch up the dialogue for Tinkerbell. 

Learning the choreography for fight scenes takes a huge amount of time behind the scenes. That was definitely the case for the first fight between Peter Banning and Lost Boy Rufio in Neverland. Director Steven Spielberg decided to film the entire fight backward. This tactic made the scene safe: Instead of swinging a sword at Robin Williams's face, actor Dante Basco would pull the sword back. 

But that meant Basco had to say his line backward. Instead of simply saying, "You're dead, jolly man," Basco learned how to say the line in reverse.