Rio Villa: The American English word "boondocks" signifies something far and unknown.

Jay Jay Maniquis: But was actually termed from the Tagalog word for "mountain," "bundok."

Rio: Like the duality in these words, the Filipino experience is one of hidden strength.

Jay Jay: But their mountainous presence always has and always will be there.

Rio: These are Filipinos who create, innovate, and influence-- Jay Jay: Bringing the Filipino story-- both: "Out of the Boondocks."

Kim Montelibano Heil: I was drawn to the theater because I believe that storytelling is such an important part of culture, teaching people how to build empathy.

You can have a career in the arts.

Some of the more traditional molds of the nine-to-five don't apply to creative careers.

♪♪♪ Jay Jay: Today I'm at The Old Globe Theatre to talk to a Filipina-American casting director and producer who is also my cousin.

We discuss how representation comes by going against the grain.

Kim: I am Kim Montelibano Heil, and I am the associate producer of The Old Globe, one of two associate producers here.

I'm also the casting director at San Diego Repertory Theatre, and I'm also an independent casting director.

I have my own company still forming, called The Nuance.

Jay Jay: And, you know, we were talking about this earlier, "Are we gonna mention this?"

But we're first cousins.

Kim: We are first cousins.

Jay Jay: And you used to watch me as a kid.

Kim: Yup, yup, I know you very well.

Jay Jay: So this is the first time we're actually really gonna be talking about your career.

Kim: But I've interviewed you on my Instagram channel about your career and--but, no, I don't think we've really talked that much about what I do.

Jay Jay: Yeah, so the interviewer becomes the interviewee.

Jay Jay: Kim has an extensive history in theater.

She earned a master's degree in Performance Studies at the prestigious Tisch School of the Arts and began producing and casting in New York City.

But prior to that, she got her start as an actress.

Jay Jay: So, Kim, growin' up, for me, seeing my older actress cousin, like, I see you in--living up in Los Angeles, livin' in New York, and you're doin' big things, and you were on stage, and I always saw you on stage, and, you know, you've always been that inspiration to me, up on stage, up on lights, and now you've transitioned to more of a behind-the-scenes casting director.

How has that been for you, and, like, what are the advantages and disadvantages of, you know, bein' on stage and havin' the position you have now?

Kim: I think what I discovered was, oh, the crafting of a character, that is something actors love to do, and I was not drawn to the theater for that reason.

I was drawn to the theater because I believe that storytelling is such an important part of culture, and it's such an important part of teaching people how to build empathy, right?

And there was this sort of larger intention and purpose behind the theater that I love being a part of, so then I thought, "Okay, what do I do about this?"

Because I wanna stay in the theater, but I don't necessarily wanna be on stage anymore.

So, honestly, I didn't know what path I needed to take, and I didn't know what steps were out there because there aren't a lot of role models, especially that looked like me, who were not in the theater without being on stage, and so, little by little, I think I realized that my work as a producer made a lot more sense, and I found that I was pretty good at that, so that's what it evolved into.

Jay Jay: San Diego is home to some of the most prominent theaters nationwide, so the city's youth have access to theater through field trips like student matinees.

Because of that, Kim's family is very involved in the arts.

Kim: So both my kids basically grew up here in The Old Globe, and it's part of our family experience because Jason, my husband, is also an actor.

He also went through youth theater when he was growing up, and so, you know, I wanted that for my kids.

I wanted them to experience that and to be able to, you know, live in someone else's shoes for a while 'cause that's what happens when you're in theater.

I am just so grateful, honestly, that living in San Diego has given us the opportunity for them to be able to experience live theater, both in the classroom and in the audience and on stage.

Jay Jay: During her own childhood, Kim was influenced by attending international school in Indonesia.

Although born in the Philippines, Kim moved to Jakarta when she was six, where she lived until moving to the U.S. for college.

Kim: It's such a unique upbringing.

Your formative years, you're surrounded by people from all over the world, and you take it for granted, and so, when you come to a place like the U.S., and particularly California, which is, you know, to some extent, a melting pot, you still suddenly become aware of what it means to be American because you didn't have to be really a nationality before.

So it's a very--I think, actually, it's really helped the way I see the world and the way I do my work as a casting director because I don't really take at face value that you are who you present yourself to be.

An actor can be many, many things, right?

A human being can be many, many things.

So I feel like identity is shaped by who we grow up with but also the values that surround you and impact you as you come of age.

And so, yes, I am--you know, I call myself Filipino.

Like, I am Filipino, first and foremost.

Jay Jay: But you're also a global citizen.

Kim: I am, that's exactly what I was gonna say.

I'm also a global citizen.

Jay Jay: I just wanted to talk to you a little bit about Filipinos and Filipino-Americans within the theater and what are your thoughts about the representation and your outlook and what you'd like to see in the future.

Kim: This show in the theater that we're in right now has a Filipina actress who actually comes out on stage, carrying the Filipino flag, and it's such a great moment, and it's a moment that she collaborated with the director to make happen.

I think it really is so significant in terms of what representation means for Filipinos in the theater because even, say, ten years ago, we probably wouldn't have had that moment, right, of seeing ourselves on this stage, and now there are so many more people who are of Filipino descent, and you see them more on TV and film.

You see them more on Broadway.

Certainly, since the '90s, when I started working professionally, it has improved for Filipino-Americans, but I do have this theory, which I have shared with you in the past, and that is that, as immigrants, we are often told, "You need to pursue something that's stable, financially viable," and often what that means is, you know, nursing, engineering-- Jay Jay: Being a lawyer.

Kim: Being a lawyer, being, you know, in finance.

I think that, when you have that being told to you as a kid, it's very difficult to recognize that pursuing the arts is actually quite viable, right?

'Cause there's nobody really visibly around you who's doing that kind of work that you can say, "But, Mom, you know, that person's doing it, so maybe I can," and so, unfortunately, I feel like a lot of Filipinos who would've otherwise pursued careers in the arts or creative careers did not, and I think we've lost some people along the way, and it's not a criticism.

I think it's just a reality, and it makes a lot of sense from the position of someone who brought their family here to give them better opportunities--makes total sense, but I am trying to educate, you know, people like us and to let them know that you can have a career in the arts.

There are ways to pursue this career to, you know, be more financially responsible, to be able to take advantage of more opportunity, and the way to do it, really, is to understand that some of the more traditional molds of the nine-to-five don't apply to creative careers and to be cool with that.

Jay Jay: That's what you've been doing with The Nuance.

You've been bringin' all these artists on and interviewing them.

You've brought me on, and it's been really cool to see, like, you know, the different ways you can make a living as a creative.

Kim: Yeah, so I interview artists about how they've made it work financially, and the answers are very broad and very different and really diverse, and people sometimes have day jobs as they pursue their careers.

Sometimes people are able to piecemeal creative work in a way that is rewarding, you know?

And that pays them well.

I think we need to dispel this myth of the starving artists, which is that "oh, if you're gonna pursue the arts, you're gonna starve, you know, you're not gonna succeed."

We have to get rid of that narrative.

I feel like, in terms of our community and making ourselves known in the U.S., we have to be willing to pursue these creative paths that have not been, sort of, forged before, right?

So we have people who are, you know, not just casting directors but who are VPs, who are writers, who are costumers, who are involved in all those different creative ways in building culture, and I think that's how we increase representation.

That's how we get our stories told.

Then that's also how we preserve our own, you know, cultural identities as Filipinos.

It's not easy, right?

Like, I'm not saying that there's success at the end of every road, but I think that there are ways to create your own path that just require a little bit of imagination and also talking to people like us.

Jay Jay: Awesome, well, Kim, this has been great, like, sitting down here and talkin' to you.

Usually, when we're talkin', we're all over the place so-- Kim: We're eating lumpia at the family parties.

Jay Jay: We're eating lumpia or turon, my dad's famous turon.

Kim: Oh, my gosh, so good.

So, so good.

Jay Jay: So it's been really great havin' this talk with you and very informative and educational, so thank you so much.

Kim: Thank you, and we're so proud of you, by the way.

Jay Jay: Thank you.

Likewise.

♪♪♪ Rio: Hello, my name is Rio.

Angelo Gonzales: Hello, my name is Rio.

[Rio laughing] both: Hello, my name is-- Rio: Rio.

Angelo: Angelo.

[trilling] Angelo: Sour face.

Lion face, aaah.

Rio: I don't know how to do this one, you just go--?

Angelo: Like, "Mmm," then, "Aaah."

Rio: Maaah!

both: Mmm, aaah!

♪ It's hard to believe ♪ ♪ That I couldn't see ♪ ♪ You were always right beside me.

♪♪ [both laughing] Rio: The Montgomery High School Theatre, where so many young people have learned to be creative, it was a pivotal place for me and for my good friend Angelo.

From high school productions to TV commercials, we talk about his journey as a Filipino-American actor.

Angelo: My name is Angelo Gonzales, and I was born and raised in San Diego, California, but currently live in Los Angeles, pursuing a career in acting in Hollywood.

Yeah, it's surreal being back here.

I haven't been in this room in, yeah, in years.

Angelo: Yeah, this is where I had my first-ever musical.

A first production of any kind, it was on this stage.

I did "The Music Man" in high school, a musical.

I was one of the barbershop quartet, so I got to wear the nice little suit with a cool hat, and we were kind of-- Rio: Can you still perform some of it now?

Angelo: But, yeah, no, it's-- thank you for bringing me back here, this is such a great experience.

Rio: How did you go from doing theater to film and TV?

Angelo: I've always loved performing.

I honestly didn't think of it any more than as a hobby, you know?

It was just a place for me to belong, a place for me to feel good about myself, and then, when I went into college, yeah, I just--you have to take an arts class, so I said, "Why not theater?"

And I went there, just, fell in love with it all over again.

As much as I love theater, and I think I, just, was so interested and pulled towards TV and film because that was my favorite thing, growing up, was watching those things.

Rio: Why was it your favorite thing, growing up?

Angelo: My dad was in the Navy, so we moved around a ton.

The one thing, other than my family, being a constant in my life was the VHS tapes that go into a VCR, these tapes that I would carry around with me, ever I went, and I think that was--you know, especially moving to a different country, like Japan, where you turn on the TV and you don't really know the language, yeah, it was something that gave me comfort when I was a stranger in a new school, new country, whatever.

It was just something that I could always rely on to go back to.

Rio: Like so many other Filipino-Americans in the 20th century, Angelo's family came to the U.S. through the enlistment of Filipinos into the U.S. Navy, during which the Philippines was a U.S. territory.

Angelo: I lived in Hawaii for four years, Japan for four years.

I was known as what we call a "military brat," just kind of moving to school to school.

A lot of my family is here in San Diego, and I'm very fortunate that a lot of my aunt and cousins are all here.

We all grew up together here in San Diego, and so that's really cool.

Rio: Despite moving a lot, Angelo's family is based in San Diego, and when they come together, their parties are full of entertainment and celebration.

Angelo: Yeah, my family is just a bunch of performers, you know?

They're really great musicians, my mom, my dad.

My brother pursued his career in music.

Just kind of grew up in a very supportive family because they--I think they all just knew that we loved it, and they saw the joy that not only brought us but to the family.

You know how it is?

You gotta perform at family parties.

Rio: Gotta sing karaoke.

Angelo: Sing karaoke.

Gotta tell the jokes.

Gotta make people laugh.

From as long as I can remember, there was always a guitar going on, there's always a piano being played.

There was always singing going on, and when you're just a little kid, how can you not, just, get immersed into that?

Rio: I feel like it's intrinsic, and it's a part of all of us, but some of us have gotten more, like, disconnected from that creative side.

With a lot of our families having to move here and having to immigrate, there's more pressure to, you know, be a doctor, to go into the military, you know, because there's a need to survive.

Angelo: It's hard to try to hone it down in what's-- "Let's be artistic."

Like, what are the arts, right, when you're just born with this survival instinct, you know?

And, yeah, I was very lucky that my family, who, of course, they emigrated here to give us a better life, and I remember asking my mom--hah, so there was the year that my brother graduated with a music degree, and I graduated with a theater degree, and I sat down, we're having breakfast, and I said, "Mom," like, "are you--" I was like--you know, just, of course, she's proud of me, but I was like, "Is this what you've dreamt of?"

I was like, "Is this what you pictured in your head, you know, coming here to America, and both your sons have a music degree and a theater degree?"

'Cause I was like, "I'm not takin' care of you anytime soon."

And, you know, I was like, yeah, I was like, "Are you proud of me, like, are you happy?"

And she looked at me, and she was like, "Baby, I've been wanting you guys to perform since the day you were born."

And I remembered looking back, thinking of all the decisions me and my brother made, you know, the piano lessons, the dance classes, and I'm, like, looking back, and flashing through my life was like, "Oh, yeah, I made these decisions," and I was like, "Wait a minute.

My mom's been prepping me my whole life to be a performer, and I didn't even realize it."

And she never really pushed me to be a nurse or a doctor.

She never--you know, she said, "Do what makes you happy.

This is why we're here.

We come to America to give you a better life so you don't have to do something to survive."

You know, they survived so we can thrive.

That rhymes.

I just made that up.

But that's kind of what-- Rio: You give me chills.

Angelo: That's what kind of happened, yeah.

Rio: How does it feel being a Filipino actor now in Hollywood?

Angelo: Now, honestly, it's a lot better, you know?

It's getting there.

You can feel the community coming together.

You can see some evidence of the pushing for diversity, and so I'm really excited, definitely.

You know, before that, it was tough, you know?

It was tough to not be aesthetically maybe the right kind of Asian or maybe the "right kind of skin color" Asian, right?

They would--you would see these roles going out that are written for maybe East Asians.

Like, I wish that role they wrote was Filipino, but you're slowly starting to see that change is happening.

Rio: What did that, do you think?

Angelo: I think, at first, it's the community, right?

Not just Filipino-American actors, but there are now Filipino-American directors, producers, casting directors.

We're starting to go into these roles that are letting us lift each other up, and I'm very lucky to have some mentors, Filipino-American actors who have been doing it before me, who are kind of teaching me the ropes and showing me the ways and letting me know how to be seen and be heard.

And then, I think, because of organizations, you know, in Los Angeles, for Filipino-American artists to come together, then we're putting our voices together to be heard, and the people in the--who have the decision-making are listening, you know, and diversifying and letting us be part of the conversation that we were let out--you know, that we weren't part of for a long time, but also taking the responsibility of starting the conversation, right, that we are getting involved in directing and producing our own things and so--and not relying on other people to write things for us or make things for us.

Rio: Besides acting, Angelo also creates projects like his self-written and produced comedic series on YouTube, called "Wowee Does It," which makes light of life's rough patches.

male: Mom and Dad kept giving you all my toys.

Angelo: And then you offered to leave me at the orphanage.

Rio: In one of Angelo's first paid commercial roles, he played a Filipino-American baker sending money back to relatives in the Philippines.

Angelo: I have my first paid gig.

I get to represent myself and my people.

That was really special and something that I'm very much proud of.

Rio: Another highlight of his career was being cast in a commercial directed by Taika Waititi, an Academy Award-winning filmmaker.

Angelo: In that moment, when I found out that information, I was just, like, "Oh," like, "I'm good enough."

Like, I felt part of the club.

I just felt a lot of confidence for the first time as an actor, which is hard when you're going through a lot of rejections a lot of time and-- Rio: What is something you hope will come out of you being a Filipino-American actor that other people can see, you know, on TV or on stage?

What do you hope will come out of that?

Angelo: I would just hope that I can give someone options, right, if they saw me in a--on TV and, of course, seeing yourself represented on screen for someone who maybe doesn't feel seen and doesn't feel heard, and to see someone who looks like them, who talks like them, who comes from their background, on screen, of course, is such a beautiful moment, but, yeah, just, I would love that, as connected as "nursing" and "Filipino" is, right, there's just this connection that's just--we don't even think about it.

It's just breathing at this point, it just happens.

Like, how cool would it be if, just, "acting and Filipino," right, to "performing and Filipino" or "art and Filipino," just, was one and the same.

Yeah, give a young Filipino-American kid out there an option, another dream to maybe shoot for, and if they don't like it, they don't like it, but at least they gave it a shot.

Angelo: Nice.

Rio: Sweet.

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