Nico Santos Quotes

Nico Santos

Profession : Actor

Birth : April 7, 1979

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.

Nico Santos

When I got that role of Mateo in 'Superstore,' it was such a huge victory for me, professionally and personally.

Nico Santos

I never thought an opportunity like 'Crazy Rich Asians' would ever come my way.

Nico Santos

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.

Nico Santos

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.

Nico Santos

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.

Nico Santos

It wasn't until I worked on 'Crazy Rich Asians' that I all of a sudden have this Asian crew of friends that I became super close with.

Nico Santos

Especially when you're queer and you're a person of color, you're so used to being the token on set. Inevitably you have to answer dumb questions from someone. You're the 'other.'

Nico Santos

I never thought in a million years I'd be involved in a project that celebrated the fullness of my identity of being queer and Asian.

Nico Santos

Generally I try to be as healthy as possible, but it's hard to be on set because anything and everything is available to you. I'm healthy half the time, and half the time I'm like, 'Sure let me go back and see whatever snack they have laid out.'

Nico Santos

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.'

Nico Santos

I don't cook as often as I would like.

Nico Santos

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.

Nico Santos

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!'

Nico Santos

A lot of people know me from my character that I play on 'Superstore,' Mateo, and I'm not interested in playing straight roles. I'm all about playing queer roles.

Nico Santos

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

Nico Santos

I lost my accent pretty quickly, so everyone assumes I was born and raised in America. But I'm very much still in touch with my Filipino roots. That will never go away.

Nico Santos

Pinoy Pride, always!

Nico Santos

Superstore' is the most amazing work environment ever. Every single person on set is someone you'd call a friend. We have the best crew, as well, and we all hang out even when we're not working. We push each other to be better, and we bring it out of one another. I have learned and grown so much.

Nico Santos

The best comedy is based on truth.

Nico Santos