The artists are among the 100 Most Influential Filipino Americans being honored by TOFA to celebrate its 10th anniversary. Another special guest is “2018 TIME Person of the Year” Maria Ressa, who is also among the TOFA100 luminaries.
Viewers can look forward to special appearances from Lea Salonga, Jo Koy, Darren Criss and Bobby Lopez during this year’s Filipino American History Month commemoration by The Outstanding Filipinos in America (TOFA) Awards on October 31. The artists are among the 100 Most Influential Filipino Americans being honored by TOFA to celebrate its 10th anniversary. Another special guest is “2018 TIME Person of the Year” Maria Ressa, who is also among the TOFA100 luminaries.
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“TOFA100: Most Influential Filipinos in America” is premiering at 9pm Eastern on YouTube and Facebook, with “Ratched” lead actor Jon Jon Briones, Rogue Ballerina Georgina Pazcoguin and legendary pianist Cecile Licad as featured performers.
Former US President Barrack Obama said young Americans learn Korean to keep up with SHINee. The South Korean boy band celebrates their 10th anniversary on Friday. It’s high time that you learn about them.
Former US President Barrack Obama said young Americans learn Korean to keep up with SHINee. The South Korean boy band celebrates their 10th anniversary on Friday. It’s high time that you learn about them.
SHINee debut: May 25, 2008
Fandom: Shawol (SHINee World)
Official color: Pearl aqua
Members: Onew, Jonghyun, Minho, Key, Taemin
Albums: “The SHINee World” (2008), “Lucifer” (2010), “Dream Girl-The Misconceptions of You” (2013), “Why So Serious?-The Misconceptions of Me” (2013), “Odd” (2015), “1 of 1” (2016), “The Story of Light” (2018)
Onew (Lee Jinki)
Nickname: Dubu (tofu) Onew
Birthday: Dec. 14, 1989
Instagram: @dlstmxkakwldrl
Twitter: @skehehdanfdldi
Why we love him: He is called tofu for a reason. He is so clumsy he trips on his own feet. You can even make slapstick show dedicated to the number of times he fell flat on his face. He injured his ankle once during a performance that it prevented him from getting up in the music video of “1 of 1.” Even with that, he can melt you into a helpless mush once he turns on his charm offensive. His aegyo on “Weekly Idol” has been the standard of aegyos for all idols for weeks.
What makes him standout: He has one of the most unique and identifiable vocals in the K-pop world. He and Jonghyun make a powerful vocal duo and they present it in the song, “Please, Don’t Go.”
Leader first: SHINee members have voted him as the person they will most likely confide in when they have problems. They said it is because he listens well and also because he tends to forget conversations making him the best person to share secrets with!
On the road: We see a lot of his personality in the show “One Fine Day.” For one, we know that left to his own devices, he will sleep all day on trips and compose silly songs. He probably will not even lift a finger to take a selca if he did not have to. Can we say #vacationbuddy
goals?
YouTube keywords: Type “Onew + mukbang.” Make sure you have a bowl of ramyeon in front of you when you watch this.
Choi Minho
Nickname: Flaming charisma
Birthday: Dec. 9, 1991
Why we love him: For the uninitiated, Minho is the lure that invites you into the fandom. You will willingly give up fresh air to drown in his puppy eyes. Those who are not into K-pop but consume a lot of dramas probably fell in love with him in one of his popular dramas like “To the Beautiful You” and “Hwarang.”
What makes him stand out: Minho’s competitiveness and athleticism is one for the books. He is an Ace in “Let’s Go! Dream Team” and his high jumps make an enjoyable watch. He also received a gold medal for the 110-meter hurdle in “Idol Star Athletics Championships.”
Key and Taemin often tease him about getting mad for losing even on video games in their dorm room. He explains that he hates losing so much especially if the knows he is capable of winning.
Impressive genes: Ever wondered where he got his tenacity and discipline? Minho’s father is a professional soccer coach. The idol initially wanted to become a player but his father did not approve of it. We really have to thank coach Choi Yun-kyum for gifting his son to K-pop.
YouTube keywords: Search “2 days & 1 night + Hwarang + skipping rope.” You’re welcome.
Key (Kim Ki-bum)
Nickname: Almighty Key
Birthday: Sept. 23, 1991
Instagram: @bumkeyk
Why we love him: He is one of the most powerful performers during live concerts. He makes it hard for you to peel your eyes off of him even when he is not your bias.
What makes him stand out: Key is unafraid to try out new things. He recently shaved his head and saved the process for posterity on his Instagram account. Head shaving is almost unheard of for idols because they need to keep their hair long enough for easy styling. His wild fashion sense awes and sometimes shocks fans and onlookers alike.
His favorite: Key loves tomato ketchup. He loves the red condiment so much that the waiters at the restaurant he was eating in at London gave him an entire bottle as takeaway. We also enjoyed watching him chow down a bag of sorrel like they were potato chips.
YouTube keywords: Search “SHINee Key Savage Moments.” Enjoy his sassiness.
Taemin (Lee Taemin)
Nickname: Power Taem, Dancing machine
Birthday: July 18, 1993
Why we love him: We first saw Taemin literally as boy. He was only 14 years old when he debuted with SHINee. In fact, when “Hello Baby” came out two years later, Shawol’s concern was how can baby Taem take care of baby Yoogeun? The maknae (youngest member) has since come out of his shell. He said it himself, he is now a man. In the recently concluded Dream Concert 2018, Taemin’s performance under the rain accentuated how very fine specimen of a man he has become.
What makes him stand out: Away from his hyungs (older members) who are protective of him, it is revealed that he is bit of wild child. He enjoys extreme sports like skydiving and literally standing on the edge of a cliff.
Always a baby: His hyungs will forever worry about him. He loses stuff easily, including important documents like tickets, immigration cards and an entire luggage. He once carried a plastic bag with all his stuff in it because he lost his bag. It earned him the title “magic hands,” which meant that whatever he holds, he loses.
YouTube keywords: Search for “Dream Concert 2018 + Move + Taemin.” Goosebumps!
Jonghyun (Kim Jonghyun)
Nickname: Bling bling Jonghyun
Birthday: April 8, 1990
Death: Dec. 18, 2017
Why we still love him: Jonghyun’s passing has not dimmed his light. The album “Poet/Artist” has shown how musically gifted he is.
What made him stand out: Jonghyun had been awfully kind when he was still alive. He brought into light important issues that were taboo in South Korea like the LGBTQ and mental health. He was a feminist, often complimenting female artists on their musicality rather than just their looks.
What we miss about him: Everything. We miss him with every fiber of our Shawol being.
YouTube keywords: “Jonghyun’s smile
NEW YORK— A second batch of TOFA100 outstanding Filipinos in the fields of media, business and entrepreneurship, education and research, fashion, culinary and public service was announced last week by The Outstanding Filipinos in America (TOFA) Awards. “Entertainment and public service are among TOFA’s bigger categories because Filipino excellence truly shines through in these fields,” says …
A second batch of TOFA100 outstanding Filipinos in the fields of media, business and entrepreneurship, education and research, fashion, culinary and public service was announced last week by The Outstanding Filipinos in America (TOFA) Awards.
“Entertainment and public service are among TOFA’s bigger categories because Filipino excellence truly shines through in these fields,” says Elton Lugay, TOFA Awards founder and executive producer.
Hollywood A-listers Bobby Lopez, Bruno Mars and Darren Criss lead the second batch of TOFA100 honorees. Bobby Lopez is the youngest among EGOT achievers and the only one among the distinguished 16 with a double EGOT status, meaning he has won the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony awards at least twice.
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The TOFA100 honorees will be feted during the anniversary special of TOFA Awards next month. Presented by Bank of America, the virtual show “TOFA100: Most Influential Filipinos in America” will premiere October 31 on YouTube and Facebook at 9 p.m. Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party’s vice-presidential candidate, has been invited to keynote the event. The show will be hosted by Dr. Boy Abunda, Asia’s King of Talk, who is serving his sixth year as TOFA Awards’ master of ceremonies. More details about the show and TOFA100 honorees will be announced until next month.
(First of two parts) LOS ANGELES—In one scene in Ryan Murphy’s new series, “Hollywood,” Darren Criss’ director character, who is trying to make his first film in the 1940s when racism
(First of two parts)
LOS ANGELES—In one scene in Ryan Murphy’s new series, “Hollywood,” Darren Criss’ director character, who is trying to make his first film in the 1940s when racism was still pervasive and “white-passing” was common, makes a confession: “I’m half Filipino.”
To most viewers of the show which will premiere on May 1 on Netflix, that statement may seem innocuous. But to many Filipinos who will hear those three words, that’s a big moment to hear a major character in a mainstream show declaring his Filipino heritage. Especially in that era, and even today, when there are still talents who pass themselves as white out of “career necessity.”
“Identity and terminology—it’s a new concept that I’ve had to learn,” admitted Darren, who is himself half Filipino and half white, in a recent exclusive interview via video conference. He has proudly acknowledged his Filipino heritage in the past and once addressed a controversy on this topic when he was misquoted.
“It has always been an interesting point of conversation that I’ve gotten more familiar with in the past two or three years,” the multitalented performer said. “Because I have a public profile, I have to worry about the term ‘white passing.’ It was something that I was not familiar with because I guess I never really felt that way.”
In Darren and Ryan’s riveting follow-up to their “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story,” which netted Emmy and Golden Globe Awards honors, including historic best actor wins for the former, it’s post-World War II in Tinseltown.
The limited series follows a group of actors and filmmakers, including Darren’s Raymond Ainsley, as they try to make it in Hollywood, where the unfair systems and biases across race, gender and sexuality are still very much in place.
It was a time when the likes of Anna May Wong (the first Chinese-American film star), Hattie McDaniel (the first person of color to win an Oscar) and a closeted Rock Hudson dealt with many obstacles. The drama also occasionally pivots around Golden Tip Gas, based on a real gas service station in Hollywood which had pump jockeys who “serviced” celebrities, many of whom were hiding their sexuality.
Darren’s Raymond is an upcoming director, fresh out of film school, who is dreaming of making his first film. Although he “passes” for white, the half-Filipino filmmaker Raymond aspires to broaden the stories that Hollywood tells.
While the eight-episode series tackles the sexism, racism and homophobia of the ’40s, “Hollywood” intentionally features revisionist history, including “a beautiful fantasy, a happy ending”—in the words of Jeremy Pope, who plays Archie Coleman, a “colored” screenwriter also trying to make it.
It’s all in keeping with what Ryan said to Darren over dinner when they planned their next project after “Versace.” The prolific director-producer wanted a “young, hopeful period piece.”
The entire cast is terrific, an engaging mix of new and veteran actors. Aside from Darren and Jeremy, the show’s roster includes Patti LuPone, Jim Parsons, Dylan McDermott, Michelle Krusiec (moving as Anna May Wong), David Corenswet, Laura Harrier, Samara Weaving, Holland Taylor, Jake Picking (as Rock Hudson), Queen Latifah, Mira Sorvino and Rob Reiner.
In this mix, most of the characters are somehow involved in “Peg,” a movie which Darren’s Asian-American director is trying to make, against all odds. Darren, who was eager as an actor to explore what it means for somebody who passes as white, reflected on the topic.
“I just was always Filipino and white,” Darren began talking about the issue. He was at his home in LA, self-quarantining with his wife, Mia. “I was always both. I never thought about it as a concept that you could be passing (as white). That it was a concept that could somehow give one more access to things than others.
“I started realizing that maybe there are inbuilt unfortunate prejudices that restrain those people from opportunities that they should otherwise have.
“I feel the survivor’s guilt more recently than ever. Because you think of a lot of any historically marginalized people. If you have this access card, how do you use it in a way that can be advantageous for the other part of you that represents the marginalized group?
“Doing these interviews made me think about how Ryan has a very similar construct, which is being a young gay, closeted kid in a small town in Indiana. It’s an incredible amount of adversity to overcome personally and socially. So, once he grew to accept this and made it part of his strength, he got to a point where he could break through barriers perhaps by way of him being a man, perhaps by way of him being white.
“Ever since he broke through those barriers, he’s been using his position to be an advocate for the queer community, women, people who have been marginalized in any way, shape or form.”
After apologizing for stepping away from his desk to open the door for someone, Darren continued, “Similarly, Raymond has been doing that. Like Ryan, Raymond has been fueled by the things that he used to be scared of, or have shame of. He has turned it around, and owned it to make sure that he can use that as fuel for his sort of social justice crusade.”
Darren, who grew up in San Francisco with a Filipino mom and an American dad, pointed out, “That is a very different scenario than what I grew up with, obviously. I grew up in a predominantly Filipino community in the Bay Area. It was a part of my life that I always felt supported.
“When I was in high school, with a lot of Filipino kids, when they’d find out I was Filipino, they would be like, ‘No way!’ It’s the kind of thing that I always loved. I’d be more willing to shove my white background aside in order to tell people I was Filipino. I’m very lucky that my scenario was different.
It’s the kind of thing that I always loved. I’d be more willing to shove my white background aside in order to tell people I was Filipino. I’m very lucky that my scenario was different.
“Ryan wanted to show that very unique story, because being half anything is a very unique identity. Not struggle, but a constant question. Anybody who’s half or mixed race will tell you that everyone’s experience is different.
“That was a part of me in the same way that Ryan likes characters who have a queer narrative or women who have a narrative of being mistreated because they were older, or people of color. I was just a small piece of a large puzzle that contributed to the types of people that were trying to push the needle forward. In Ryan’s mind, it would have been a shame to ignore the fact that I was half Asian.”
“Hollywood,” shot in LA’s landmarks from Paramount Studios to the iconic Musso & Frank Grill, also marks the first time Darren serves as an executive producer of a major production. “I’ve produced stuff in so far as I had a theater company and a production company out of college,” he clarified. “But that’s a very loose title. It was just me and my friends putting on a show. It doesn’t have the same flash on it that a Netflix show does. I’m also the creator and exec producer of my show (‘Royalties’ on Quibi).
“I finished that show, then I went straight into ‘Hollywood.’ I was on postproduction for ‘Royalties’ at the same time I was shooting ‘Hollywood.’ It’s been probably one of the most packed, overworked years of my entire life.
“Ryan was very gracious to include me with that title. He was receptive to my feedback, but for the most part, I stayed back and let Ryan do his thing.
“He called me early on saying, ‘Do you mind if I just do my thing on this?’ I was like, ‘No, of course not. This is your project. I’m just grateful and lucky to be a part of it.’”
(First of two parts)
LOS ANGELES—“Darren Criss is a wonderful guy,” Patti LuPone said about her costar in Ryan Murphy’s new 1940s-set
LOS ANGELES—“Darren Criss is a wonderful guy,” Patti LuPone said about her costar in Ryan Murphy’s new 1940s-set drama series, “Hollywood.”
The musical theater legend, who was calling from her Connecticut home in this recent videocon interview, plays Avis Amberg, the wife of a studio mogul, Ace Amberg (Rob Reiner). When Ace suffers a heart attack, Avis takes over the fictional Ace Studios, where Darren’s director character is trying to make his first film.
The Netflix series is Ryan’s revisionist take of Hollywood’s golden age, based on real-life stories and mixed with what-if wish-fulfillment fantasies.
“We bonded over his knowledge of theater, which is extraordinary,” the Tony- and Grammy-winning diva continued about Darren, who has several Broadway credits to his name.
“Darren was actually so thrilled to be sitting where the actors were waiting, when we were all involved in a scene with actors who are actually on Broadway or have been for most of their careers—Joe Mantello, who is so wonderful in this, me, Holland Taylor and Jim Parsons.”
“Darren is a wonderful spirit,” Patti added. “He wanted us all to get together. So at one point, we went to his bar (Tramp Stamp Granny’s in Hollywood). I was drinking vodka martinis, which I don’t normally do. I got drunk and they convinced me to sing ‘Don’t Cry for Me Argentina’ (laughs). It’s kind of silly singing that in a bar in front of young kids. But they sang it with me! It was sort of karaoke ‘Don’t Cry for Me Argentina.’”
LOS ANGELES—“When I got the email from my agent, I literally said, ‘What??!!’” Reggie Lee wrote via email when I asked him what it was like
Speaking of Asian American actors, I asked Reggie about Darren Criss’ filmmaker character in Ryan Murphy’s 1940s-set “Hollywood” declaring that he is half-Filipino and how that hopefully is another step forward for more Filipino and Asian roles in Tinseltown.
“I’m actually five episodes in now, and I’m really liking it,” Reggie said of the Netflix series. “I didn’t know how I’d react, at first, seeing a ‘fairy tale’ versus the accounts we all know. Having worked so hard to get where we are as Asian American actors, and knowing the struggles that we continue to go through, I thought it might be kind of sad to see what it could have been like.
“But you know what? I’m finding that it brings me more hope than sadness. I really love Ryan Murphy’s approach and his inclusiveness. First and foremost, what really rings true to me is Darren Criss’ declaration that he’s half-Filipino. You often hear about Asian actors like Anna May Wong in an era like that, but to hear Filipino? Wow.
“To even imagine someone Filipino in an age like that in the film industry doesn’t even compute to me. So Darren owning that and getting it out into the world just profoundly does so much for the visibility of Filipinos as a whole. Can you believe we are the second largest Asian American community in the United States, but one of the most underrepresented in the media? So, as you can imagine, I was ecstatic when that was part of Darren’s storyline.”
NEW YORK—The Outstanding Filipinos in America (TOFA) Awards marked Filipino American History Month with a special participation at mainstream events hosted by the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (WHIAAPI), the United States Congress and at several NBA games throughout the East Coast. October was packed for TOFA Awards founder and executive …
Donning a barong tagalog in a separate video message to TOFA, Emmy and Golden Globe winner Darren Criss, TOFA’s entertainment awardee for 2019, paid tribute to his Filipino heritage.
“I just wanted to congratulate my fellow honorees and I wanted to thank TOFA for including me in their prestigious company, to be not only included with their company but the past honorees and the future honorees. I was reading about the accomplishments of many of the men and women honored tonight that are not just in the entertainment industry like myself, but in all facets of life, and it’s really great to know that there are so many Filipinos and Filipino Americans doing such great stuff in the world, so I’m honored to be included with them,” Criss said.
Criss added: “You know, being half Filipino is something that I always considered myself pretty lucky to be. I can’t take full credit for it so I have to give credit to my mom, for making way to the States and starting a family and I give her all my love, respect and gratitude for being the person that gave me this wonderful opportunity and this wonderful heritage. So, I consider it a great privilege in my career and in my life to be included in the Filipino community and I’d like to thank TOFA again.”
LOS ANGELES—“Darren (Criss) was just happy to be in this group of actors and playing opposite them,” director Roland Emmerich said about casting Fil-Am Darren Criss in “Midway,”
LOS ANGELES—“Darren (Criss) was just happy to be in this group of actors and playing opposite them,” director Roland Emmerich said about casting Fil-Am Darren Criss in “Midway,” which features a large cast of actors.
“I was a little embarrassed how small the part was, to be honest. We always talked about it,” admitted Roland.
In “Midway,” a WWII epic film, Darren plays Lieutenant Commander Eugene Lindsey, whom the actor described in his tweet as being honored with “the Navy Cross for leading his squadron in an attack on the aircraft carrier Kaga in the Battle of Midway.”
Roland added about Darren, “He’s a lovely guy, super smart, intelligent and funny as hell. I was excited that I had him.”
In the German filmmaker’s movie that follows the US Navy and aviators who survived the surprise Pearl Harbor attack, then through the Battle of Midway which was a turning point in WWII, Darren joins Woody Harrelson, Patrick Wilson, Luke Evans, Mandy Moore, Dennis Quaid, Aaron Eckhart, Nick Jonas, Ed Skrein and Keean Johnson.
“So, it’s this feel that you have a good group of actors together,” Roland said about the cast. “For me, it’s very important.”
