Advocate Magazine has named Filipino-American Hollywood stars Nico Santos and Vincent Rodriguez III in the top 3 of their readers’ LGBTQ Asian-American icons and leaders, leading a list of 150 names.
Nico Santos, who is best known as Hollywood hit television series Superstore’s “Mateo” and Crazy Rich Asian movie’s “cousin Oliver,” graces the March 2019 cover story of America’s leading LGBTQ magazine along with Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’s “Josh Chan” Vincent Rodriguez III, together with Single Parents’ Korean-American actor, Jake Choi.
In the Advocate feature “LGBTQ Asian-Americans Shatter Hollywood’s Glass Closet” written by Diane Anderson-Minshall, Santos and Rodriguez discuss how LGBTQ Asian-Americans are moving for more cultural diversity and representation in Hollywood – the same advocacy of 4-time Best Actor Fil-Am Darren Criss.
Describing Nico Santos, Advocate writes how the Fil-am actor has appealed to mass audiences:
“Many of our crew were already Nico Santos fans; after all, his acerbic, shade-throwing but compassionate Filipino immigrant Mateo is the best of NBC’s Superstore cast (that’s saying a lot because America Ferrera co-stars).
But as Crazy Rich Asians became a sensation, (it made over $230 million at the box office in the U.S.), the world suddenly knew Santos as cousin Oliver, the gay fixer ‘rainbow sheep of the family’ who helps make the rom-com come alive.”
Writing about Vincent Rodriguez III, Minshall talks about how the Fil-Am actor broke stereotypes in Hollywood casting:
“Vincent Rodriguez has spent the last few seasons of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend transforming into a classic TV star: buff, handsome, and ready for action movies. As the critically-acclaimed show on The CW winds up it’s fourth and final season, its worth noting that Rodriguez is an out gay man playing the straight star and romantic lead of a network TV series — and he’s Filipino-American.
That combination would have been unheard of only a decade ago (much less back when gay, Asian-American pioneer George Takei was still closeted and starring in Star Trek decades ago).”
The March 2019 issue of Advocate with Nico Santos and Vincent Rodriguez III on the cover are now available through online orders on the magazine’s website.
Like, Follow, Subscribe to GoodNewsPilipinas.com Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Good News Pilipinas! TV on YouTube, new story notifications and e-mail newsletters for updates on more Filipino Pride stories.
