TGIF FEATURE: Nico Santos on being gay on 'Superstore' & 'Crazy Rich Asians'

CHARMING AUDIENCES with his sarcastic wit and outrageous sensibility, Nico Santos has that rare ability to be crass and snarky while at the same time remaining completely likable.

That sort of describes the character he plays as Mateo, and undocumented, queer, Filipino American, in NBC's hit comedy Superstore. Santos will play Oliver in Crazy Rich Asians

"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," quipped Santos in an interview with Huffington Post.

The Filipino American comedian was asked if he felt there was any extra pressure for Crazy Rich Asians to be successful.

"I do hope that Crazy Rich Asians leads to more work because I do want to expand what I’m doing out there. I mean, I try not to think, like, “Ugh, if Crazy Rich Asians doesn’t do well, then they’ll never make another Asian movie ever again.” I really hope that’s not the case. I hope the industry doesn’t see this as the one shot we get. We should be making these kinds of movies and telling these kinds of stories. There should be five more movies coming out this year that are just like Crazy Rich Asians and five more movies just like Black Panther.”

Listen to this interview about his role in Superstore, and what it was like working with an all-Asian cast and largely Asan crew in the upcoming movie Crazy Rich Asians.

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Beyond 'Fresh Off the Boat:' Two shows expand image of Asian Americans.

The cast of 'Superstore.'

ASAM NEWS & Views From the Edge

TWO TELEVISION SERIES showcasing Asian/Americans have received word that they have been renewed for the next season, Andi Mack and Superstore.

Both of the shows depict Asian/Americans complement ABC's historic Fresh Off the Boat that plays to mainstream audiences by showing different aspects of the Asian/American character.

A show arguably under the Asian/American community’s radar, but with a diverse AAPI cast, has been renewed for a fourth season, reports Cinema Blend

NBC's Superstore features Nico Santos as Mateo, an undocumented gay Filipino man working in a Walmart-like department store.

Also integral to Superstoreis Nichole Bloom as Cheyenne, a teen mom with a gift for gab. Bloom is Japanese and Irish.

Others on the cast include Kaliko Kauahi as Sandra, a Hawaiian native with a knack for lying.

Jon Miyahara plays the role of Brett, a dedicated worker with the respect of his co-workers.

A recent article in the Village Voice proclaimed in a bold headline that “Superstore expands TVs understanding of all that Asian American characters can be.”

What other TV show has a main character who is also undocumented. It would have been easy to make that character Hispanic. The choice to make the undocumented role Filipino clearly went against the grain of audience expectations.

Mateo also happens to be gay. While gay representation has increased in recent years, such characters are definitely not numerous on TV or even on the big screen.

Superstore’s diverse cast, the show’s central character Amy is played by America Ferrara, a Honduran American, is clearly catching on.

In its third season, Superstore is  growing its audience. Ratings are up six percent over the last year in the 18-49 demographic and is NBC’s number 1 comedy on digital platforms.

The cast of 'Andi Mack' keeping it real.

The critically acclaimed Andi Mack on the Disney Channel has remarkable success with its target audience, tweens, young teens and pre-teens. Like the successful Fresh Off the Boat, Andi Mack tells its stories from an Asian/American perspective. The Mack family, however, is racially mixed with half-Asian/half-white actors playing the lead roles.

It's a complicated relationship between lead character Andi, played by Peyton Elizabeth Lee, and her birth mother Bex, portrayed by Lilian Bowden, who she was raised believe was her sister. And the woman she thought was her mother (Lauren Tom) turns out to be her grandmother.

The beauty of the coming-of-age show is that even though it is a product of squeaky-clean Disney, it is not afraid to tackle out-of-wedlock birth as a storyline. Last season, it also had a main character come out as gay to his clique of diverse friends. 

Keep in mind, the audience is primarily young teenagers but the issues it confronts are real life problems faced by today's tweens. (FYI: FOtB also had a main character come out as lesbian this season.) Despite the controversial topics (or, perhap because of it) the formula has been successful, Andi Mack ranked as the No. 1 TV telecast in the timeslot across youth demos (Kids 6-11 and Kids 6-14) and was the No. 1 cable TV telecast in total viewers.
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