We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nicole Santiago a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Nicole, thanks for joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

As a kid, I always knew I wanted to be an actor/performer. I would do little things like put on a show for my family, rehearse my own singing and dancing numbers and force my younger sister into joining me, and even practice crying in front of a mirror. The first time I went to Disneyland, I saw a stage performer and fell in love with the way she told a story for an audience and I knew then that I wanted to do that too.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am an artist who wears many hats- I feel like that’s a must to survive in this industry. I’ve performed professionally in the theatre industry since 2002 in my hometown Manila, Philippines. I did a lot of children’s musical theatre as I was also studying to get my Master’s Degree in Special Education. I moved to California in 2009 and started working in Special Education, while I put my love for acting on hold. Eventually, I started volunteer acting in community theatres and eventually got hired for local professional companies. That’s when I knew I could not just give up on what I really love.

I eventually started playing roles like Kim in Miss Saigon in a few regional companies around America. When I started branching out to roles that are “typically white” like Princess Fiona in “Shrek” and Miss Honey in “Matilda”, it opened up my eyes and I realized the importance that representation brings. When a little child of color comes up to me at the end of a show and tells me they want to sing and dance like me on stage, it gives me so much joy. I did not see a lot of people of color on stage or TV when I was growing up. Now, they are growing up with more visibility, and that makes my heart so happy.

Nowadays, I do a lot of voiceover work for the Filipino community and stand for more visibility of Filipinos in Hollywood.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I think this goes along with the visibility story I had growing up. I have always been curious about the TV/film world. My father was a big Film director in the Philippines but I had a very controversial family backstory and I was not allowed to be in the industry (TV/film wise) – we’ll save that story for another day. When I eventually moved to California, I have learned to shake off the TV/film dream and because I only knew “Miss Saigon”, I limited myself to theatre and just thought “If I don’t see anyone who looks like me, I can’t possibly do it”. The first time I saw Filipino story on National TV was an episode of Grimm. I remember posting about Mr. Reggie Lee on my Instagram and just being amazed about the representation that this brought. I remember feeling so inspired that day! I started submitting to TV agents and eventually started auditioning for roles on TV. The first time that I ever got to work on set – on MY FIRST DAY EVER on my first television gig, who was my scene partner? Mr. Reggie Lee! I told him about that full circle moment and how he inspired me to expand and actually work on these limiting beliefs that I put on myself.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Filipinos are one of the largest immigrant communities in America, and yet we continue to be underrepresented in Hollywood. Who has ever gone to the doctor and not met a Filipino nurse? In all these medical dramas, you can count with one hand how many Filipino nurses you will see. This drives my passion. I want to tell our stories and I believe that time has been overdue.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.missnicolesantiago.com
• Instagram: @nicolette.santiago

Image Credits

Leslie Alejandro
Geof Northridge
Isaac James