Meet Nico Santos, set to star in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3: the Filipino-American LGBT actor was a part-time waiter before he rose to fame in NBC’s Superstore and Crazy Rich Asians

Jun 30 , 2022

Nico Santos is a proud LGBT advocate and one of Hollywood’s hottest up-and-coming actors. Photo: @nicosantos/Instagram

The 43-year-old actor will make his MCU debut alongside Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Chris Hemsworth and Bradley Cooper – but his background is actually in costume design

He’s best known for starring on Superstore with America Ferrera and Crazy Rich Asians with Michelle Yeoh and Gemma Chan, and is engaged to Survivor’s Zeke Smith

Fresh from Crazy Rich Asians’ phenomenal success in 2018, Nico Santos, who plays Oliver T’sien in the film, had a bit of a quiet period compared to co-stars such as Michelle Yeoh and Gemma Chan in the years after its release. He wrapped up his role for the final season of NBC’s Superstore in 2021 and had few gigs in between.

Nico Santos rose to fame with Crazy Rich Asians but had little success in landing roles thereafter – until recently. Photo: @nicosantos/Instagram

“After Crazy Rich Asians, I never booked any of those auditions I went on. That’s always in the back of your head, am I gonna work again? But I was just in this huge movie. I was like, oh my God, this town is rough,” he shared with The Hollywood Reporter.

Fortunately, he’s doing a lot better these days – he recently joined Marvel’s third instalment of Guardians of the Galaxy in a yet-undisclosed role, where he will be acting opposite Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Chris Hemsworth and Bradley Cooper.

While waiting for his debut in the franchise’s volume three, we get to know the 43-year-old actor a little better.

He was a self-described dork in his youth

A young Nico Santos and his older brother. Photo: @nicosantos/Instagram

Born in Manila, Santos grew up loving comics and Dungeons & Dragons, according to Asian Journal. After his family immigrated to the United States, then-16-year-old Santos struggled to find his footing at his new school, where he and his brother were the only Filipinos.

He then discovered the drama club, which he affectionately called a “band of freaks”, per The Oregonian, and became fully immersed in the theatre and choir community.

His acting teacher told him he would never succeed

Nico Santos made his major acting debut with Crazy Rich Asians. Photo: @nicosantos/Instagram