Nico Santos

Everything you could imagine Michelle Yeoh being, she lives up to that.

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 hate that femininity in a gay men is a 'stereotype.'

I love my mom! She's just great and so happy for me that I'm living my dream.

Never in a million years would I have imagined that this is how my life would have ended up. I just thought I would be living in the States, doing a regular job.

The fact that I'm able to portray these complex, fully realized, queer Asian characters? I never thought it would be in this position. You just never see those types of characters and that type of representation.

I came out to one or two people in high school and then it wasn't until I was a freshman in college that I was fully out of the closet. It was like the late '90s.

Shows like 'Superstore' and certainly 'Pose' are leading the way and showing queer people of color in a much more complex, nuanced light that we've never seen.

My family always believed in me, even when I didn't. Having that love and support made me not afraid of failing. I knew my mom would be proud of me just for taking a chance and pursuing my dream.

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.

I did stand-up comedy for a long time in San Francisco, and then I was like, 'You know what? I'm going to move to Los Angeles and try and make it!'