Nico Santos

The best comedy is based on truth.

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.

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.

I've gotten auditions with as little as two hours' notice. Those don't go so well!

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.

We, Filipinos, are really great about keeping a positive attitude and seeing the silver lining in all things. We're survivors!

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.

I think I understand why most actors and actresses are insane, because having to go through an emotional roller coaster as your job every day of your life would make somebody absolutely loopy.

I want to show people out there that there's such a huge spectrum of people within the queer and Asian community.

Within the Filipino community, everybody knows somebody who's undocumented.

It's really great to see the queer landscape really change to include everybody and make the rest of the world understand that we're not just one or two things. There's so much about the queer community that needs to be represented.

My mom is definitely crazy. She would totally be a stage mom if I was a child actor.