There’s no denying; Filipino pride is taking over the world!
And the entertainment industry is all the better for it, because diversity and representation
has never been more important.
Hey, even Lucifer has jumped into the Filipino bandwagon!
But boxing legend Manny Pacquiao and theater icon Lea Salonga are hardly the only Filipinos
that have made a name for themselves in the US.
Let’s get to know these 10 Celebrities You Didn’t Know Were Filipino!
What’s up, fact-natics!
This is Discovery Amuse, serving up your daily dose of the most outrageous, outlandish, and
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Our number one pick didn’t need any 24 karat magic to become one of the biggest popstars
on the planet, and you best believe his Uptown Funk came from his Filipino roots!
#10: Olivia Rodrigo
Seriously, who didn’t become obsessed with the song Driver’s License at one point?
Either you’ve been living under a rock… or you’re just a heartless broken shell
of a man.
Man: She’s got a healthy belt Chorus: Guess you didn’t mean what you wrote
in that song about me.
Oh yes, Olivia Rodrigo, the 17-year-old Disney star and Billboard chart topper is part Filipino!
And she’s proud of her Southeast Asian heritage too!
Olivia: I’m part Filipina on my dad’s side of the family.
My Filipino heritage comes from my great grandfather.
Before reducing us all into a huge pile of crying mess with her smash hit Driver’s
License,—yeah, grown men cry too y’ know!-- Olivia got her big break when she grabbed
the starring role in the TV series spin-off of High School Musical, where she played Nini
Salazar-Roberts.
Fast forward to 2021, and her debut single smashed Spotify’s record for single-day
streams for a non-holiday song and topped the charts in eight different countries, including
the US and the UK!
She even got Taylor Swift’s seal of approval!
Olivia: I’m just so in awe of her constantly and I truly would not be the songwriter I
am today had I not grown up being so inspired by everything that she does.
And fun fact: Her favorite Filipino dish is lumpia or Filipino egg rolls!
Perhaps she could cook some for Tay-tay one of these days!
Keep watching because our top pick probably got his swag and finesse from his Filipino
mom!
Bruno: Out here dripping in finesse, it don’t make no sense…
#9: Darren Criss
This Hollywood actor rose to fame for his role as Blaine Anderson in the musical-comedy
series “Glee.”
The actor-slash-singer-slash-songwriter also appeared in other Broadway and film projects,
but his most significant role to date was playing serial murderer Andrew Cunanan in
the FX mini-series “The Assassination of Gianni Versace,” for which he won an Emmy
and a Golden Globe!
Andrew: Tell me something Lee, what terrifies you more, death or being disgraced?
The casting couldn’t have been more appropriate because just like Andrew Cunanan, Darren is
half-Filipino.
His mom, Cerina, is a native of Cebu City in the Philippines, while his father was of
English, German, and Irish descent.
In his Golden Globes speech, he even gave a touching shoutout to his Filipina mother!
Darren: It’s been a marvelous year for representation in Hollywood, and I am so enormously proud
to be a teeny tiny part of that as the son of a firecracker Filipino woman from Cebu
that dreamed of coming to this country.”
When Darren got married to his wife Mia in 2019, he even paid tribute to his Filipino
roots by wearing the national attire of the Philippines called Barong Tagalog (ba-WRONG
TAGA-log) for their wedding reception!
#8: H.E.R.
This Grammy-award winning singer-songwriter’s stage name is an acronym for Having Everything
Revealed, because she wanted to shift the focus more towards her music rather than her
personal life.
HER: I felt like, let me not put my face on my music, let me not put a name on my music,
and just give my music the way that it is.
It’s just pure message.
And obviously, it worked to her advantage after scoring chart-topping hits such as “Best
Part,” “Hold On,” and “Hard Place.”
HER: I’m caught between your love and a hard place…
But while HER, or Gabi Wilson in real life, prefers keeping a low profile, she’s not
at all shy about the fact that she was born to an African-American father and a Filipina
mother.
In fact, part of her musical influence was her family’s penchant for Filipino-style
karaoke!
And because Filipinos are known to be great home cooks, HER grew up loving her mom’s
authentic homegrown dishes like sinigang, adobo and kare-kare!
HER: Wooh this kare-kare looks delicious.
It wouldn’t be a Filipino meal without some steamed rice on the side.
Her mom sure raised HER well!
#7.
Manny Jacinto
Fight me on this, but methinks The Good Place is absolutely one of the best sitcoms OF ALL
TIME.
Eleanor: Somebody royally forked up.
Somebody forked up.
Why can’t I say fork?
Not only did it make us ponder on what it truly means to be a genuinely good person,
but it also gave us arguably the most lovable member of the Soul Squad---the break-dancing,
fake Buddhist monk Jason Mendoza!
Jason: Everyone here thinks I’m Taiwanese.
I’m Filipino.
That’s racist.
Yup, the show’s casting director did good here, because actor Manny Jacinto, who played
Jason on the show, is a full-blooded Filipino, with both his parents hailing from the province
of Nueva Ecija in the PH before migrating to Canada when he was 3 years old.
Despite having a degree in Applied Science in civil engineering—yup, he’s way smarter
than his Good Place character will have you believe—his passion has always been in hip-hop
dancing and acting, so he eventually moved to LA to pursue his Hollywood dreams.
Manny: It’s actually the messages that come through and say that, “Oh, thank you so
much for representing the Filipinos, Asians in general and being able to see something
completely different.”
#6: Hailee Steinfeld
Singing: Coz you’re my flashlight, you’re my flashlight, you’re my flashlight…
The flashlight—er, I mean, spotlight-- shone on American singer-actress Hailee Steinfeld
when she became a household name, thanks to her roles in “True Grit,” “Ender’s
Game” and of course, her memorable role as Emily Junk in the Pitch Perfect series.
Emily: I’d like to perform an original song that I’ve been working on, I’m not quite
finished with it though, so let’s not be dicks about it.
But despite her mostly white-passing appearance, Hailee is actually of mixed race.
She got her Filipino blood from her maternal grandfather, Ricardo Domasin (Doh-MA-sin),
who’s half-African-American and half-Filipino, and her mother, Cheri, is of English, Filipino,
and German descent.
She is also the grand-niece of Larry Domasin, the former Filipino child actor who starred
with Elvis Presley in his 1963 film “Fun in Acapulco.”
Hailee: I’ve since been to the Philippine a couple of times which is so wonderful to
be in a place where you share some of the same DNA with the people that you’re surrounded
by.
I see a trend here, most part-Filipinos are incredible singers!
Maybe it really is in their genes.
#5.
Dave Bautista
Batista: Come on man, you know me.
Chill out, man!
Of course, everybody knows the longest-reigning WWE World Heavyweight Champion!
And it seems like his acting chops inside the wrestling ring proved to be an advantage
when the celebrity former known as Batista decided to crossover into the big screen.
Who doesn’t love Drax the Destroyer--the lean-mean fighting machine with a big heart
in Guardians of the Galaxy?
Drax: Yes, I single-handedly vanquished the beast!
Hahaha!
But if you’re wondering why Dave sports a tattoo of the Philippine flag on his shoulder,
and three stars and a sun inked on his left elbow, that’s because Dave’s dad, David
Michael Bautista, is of Filipino descent!
His grandparents from his father’s side were Filipino immigrants, and his paternal
grandfather used to serve in the Philippine military too!
Dave: And I think that with a lot of Filipinos they’re just very driven, so I think that
one trait I definitely got from my grandfather, even more so than my father.
#4: Nicole Scherzinger
So this Pussycat Doll can sing, dance, act, judge in a reality show and perform in Broadway.
Heck, she can even do celebrity impersonations!
Wait a minute, is there anything Nicole Scherzinger can’t do?
Nicole: Twinkle twinkle little star…
I guess she can thank her multi-racial heritage for her multi-talented genes.
See, Nicole’s biological father, Alfonso Valiente is Filipino, but later on when her
parents separated and her mom Rosemary married Gary Scherzinger, Nicole took his stepdad’s
surname.
This didn’t mean though that she has forgotten her Filipino heritage.
In fact, Nicole recently recorded a Filipino song entitled “Pangako” or “Promise,”
in collaboration with a Filipino-American musical director.
Nicole: Pangako, hindi kita iiwan
How can you not stan a multilingual diva!
#3.
Manila Luzon
Her drag name should already be a dead giveaway, given that Manila is the capital of the Philippines
and Luzon is its largest island.
She even impersonated infamous first lady Imelda Marcos on season 3 of Rupaul’s Drag
Race!
Manila: Don’t cry for me Filipinos.
Rupaul: Yes, darling, yes.
But in case you missed the Filipino connection, Manila Luzon, who’s Karl Westerberg in real-life,
is born to an American father and a Filipina mother.
When he was a kid, Karl even practiced Philippine folk dances where his love for performing
began, until he sashayed his way into the world of drag, and transformed into one of
America’s fiercest queens!
Manila: Here I have Lady Bunny’s last will and testicle.
Read her all you want for her charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent, but you certainly can’t
clock Manila’s in-depth knowledge of Filipino cuisine!
Manila: This is my dad’s favorite, leche flan.
Now let’s see if you guys made this right.
(jump) Okay, I want to take this home with me.
#2: Jacob Batalon
Marvel fans may have their own opinions about who played Peter Parker best.
But one thing Tom Holland’s version of Spiderman blessed us with is his best buddy, Ned Leeds!
Ned: You’re the Spiderman, from YouTube.
Spiderman: I’m not, I’m not.
Representation wins in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for casting full-fledged Filipino
actor Jacob Batalon, whose parents migrated from the Philippines to Hawaii when he was
a kid.
Jacob: We’d sing karaoke a lot, we have baked barbecues for no reason, everyday I
have like adobo and sinigang,
Despite Ned Leeds being a Caucasian character in the comic books, Jacob’s undeniable chemistry
with Tom Holland during their casting secured him the highly-coveted role of Spidey’s
BFF.
Ned: Can you spit venom?
Peter: No.
Ned: can you summon an army of spiders?
Peter: No, Ned.
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#1: Bruno Mars
It’s a shame that a lot of so-called “woke” millennials accuse this Grammy-winning singer-songwriter
of appropriating black culture with his music, especially since Bruno Mars doesn’t have
any African-American roots.
But Bruno maintains that he’s not a culture vulture, and his influences like Michael Jackson,
Prince and James Brown shouldn’t be held against him and his music.
Although to be fair, the Versace on the Floor singer--whose real name is Peter Gene Hernandez,--does
recognize the merit in all the criticism.
His father, after all, is half Puerto Rican, half-Askhenazi Jewish, and his mom Bernadette
Bayot was Filipino.
Bruno’s mother migrated from the Philippines to Hawaii and worked as a hula dancer.
She met Bruno’s musician father when they performed in the same show.
During his Superbowl Halftime show in 2014, Bruno honored her late Filipina mom by putting
her name in his drum set.
So, which of these A-listers are you dying to meet in person?
Let us know in the comments section below!
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