A biography for Nico Santoshasn’t been written yet.
“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.'”
“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.”
“I was in the closet up until I moved to the U.S. But I was always one of those kids who couldn't really hide being gay. Some queer kids are just more straight-passing than others. I was not one of those kids.”
“Everything you could imagine Michelle Yeoh being, she lives up to that.”
“I hate that femininity in a gay men is a 'stereotype.'”
“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!'”
“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.”
“I'm so Filipino. I'm fluent in Filipino.”
“I often get asked which 'Superstore' episode is my favorite. That's such a hard question to answer. It's like being asked: Which of your children (and by children, I mean shoes) do you like best?”
“In the early '80s, my family vacationed to the United States.”
“When I got that role of Mateo in 'Superstore,' it was such a huge victory for me, professionally and personally.”
“Femme people exist, and they are layered and they are complex and they are intelligent.”
“I thought my high school would either be like 'Beverly Hills 90210' or 'Stand and Deliver' - it was just a run-of-the-mill high school.”
“It still baffles my brain that I actually get to portray a character on American television that's this gay, femme-y Filipino guy.”
“People with accents exist and just because they have an accent doesn't mean they're less intelligent or what-have-you.”
“I've done retail before.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”