Actor Darren Criss made history as the first Filipino-American to receive an Emmy Award for his role as serial killer Andrew Cunanan in the US television series “American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace”.
Criss beat out some of the biggest names in Hollywood for the award, including Antonio Banderas, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jeff Daniels, John Legend, and Jesse Plemons.
“This is a show that is depicting, probably for the first time in my memory, a really complex Filipino character who was a real person and peers into a real Filipino family’s life. To be able to shed light on that is very exciting. I’m very proud to be part of that,” he said in an interview with Ruben V. Nepales talking about his role in the show.
(Photo credits: Medium)
But even before he bagged what is considered to be the highest award in TV, he has already taken pride in his Filipino roots saying that his Cebuana mother has been one of his biggest influence when it comes to music and acting.
(Photo credits: Medium)
The Emmy Award-winning actor has also been very vocal about his heritage and his Filipino connections in several other interviews.
In an interview with Spot.ph in 2010, the singer-actor said he is fond of eating Filipino dishes with adobo being one of his favorites, together with lumpia, pancit, cassava cake, and bibingka.
In another interview with “Jimmy Kimmel Live” earlier this year, Criss revealed that he and his Filipino mother would usually spend time together buy eating “fatty, unhealthy” Filipino food at their favorite restaurant in Los Angeles.
Moreover, He said in a tweet that being half-Filipino is one of his favorite things about himself.
Criss has also reached out to his fellow Filipinos by helping raise funds for the survivors of typhoon Yolanda in 2013, and has recently sent a message to those who got affected by typhoon Ompong last week.
Main photo: out.com
