It still baffles my brain that I actually get to portray a character on American television that's this gay, femme-y Filipino guy.
Generally I try to be as healthy as possible, but it's hard to be on set because anything and everything is available to you. I'm healthy half the time, and half the time I'm like, 'Sure let me go back and see whatever snack they have laid out.'
I like making adobo, because it's easy and it keeps in the fridge for a while. Or I'll make pasta with bolognese - something I can make a big batch of and can keep eating for the rest of the week.
The fact that I get to play a queer Filipino on television and another queer character in 'Crazy Rich Asians' is huge. I never thought I'd have a career being myself. I always thought that being an actor in Hollywood meant that I would have to put that side of me on the back burner.
My mom is definitely crazy. She would totally be a stage mom if I was a child actor.
My intent when I moved to L.A. was to get in good with the comedy clubs and, eventually, try to break into Comedy Central and have my half hour special.
When I worked at Dior, Paris Hilton and Kathy Hilton came one time and they were kind of crazy.
I always thought that when I got into this business that I was going to have to downplay my Asianness and downplay my queerness, which is not an easy thing for me to do.
Ellen DeGeneres is a huge influence in my life. She's one of the reasons why I wanted to do stand-up comedy. I was a big fan of her stand-up before she even came out of the closet.
Femme people exist, and they are layered and they are complex and they are intelligent.
I'm portraying out characters, I'm portraying femme characters, characters that are really outside of the box. I never thought I would get that opportunity to portray those characters at all, much less have a career that I have.
We must work to change in our hearts and minds what it looks like to be undocumented. It is the high schooler dreaming of college who isn't aware of his status. It is the single mother working grueling hours in a warehouse just to provide for her children. It is the family that sits next to you in church. It is your neighbor.
I come from Oregon, which is this super-white state, so I didn't really have a lot of Asian friends in high school and college. And my background's in comedy, and your friends are just your peers in comedy, which is a whole mix of people.
What I've come to find out is it doesn't matter if you're selling a $10,000 gown or toilet paper: The everyday sort of humdrum of customer service and retail is the same.
It's really mind-boggling to me when I think about where I started and where I am now. It's kind of insane.
I grew up in the Philippines and we had all this amazing fresh seafood, but uni was something that I was weirded out by. It wasn't until I was an adult that I was like, 'Let me just go ahead and try this.'
Superstore' is the most amazing work environment ever. Every single person on set is someone you'd call a friend. We have the best crew, as well, and we all hang out even when we're not working. We push each other to be better, and we bring it out of one another. I have learned and grown so much.
