Nico Santos is a Filipino-American actor[1] known for portraying Oliver T'sien in Crazy Rich Asians and sales associate Mateo Liwanag in the NBC series Superstore.
In his junior year, he attended the Oregon Shakespeare Festival's summer seminar for high school students, where he discovered his love for theater.
[5][6] He later moved to Los Angeles in pursuit of a stand-up career, but found it difficult to advance due to comedy club politics.
As a result of the showcase, which is presented to a slew of industry professionals which includes agents and casting directors,[9] he soon found himself being invited to more and more auditions, eventually landing him a role on the NBC comedy television show, Superstore.
[6] He premiered as Mateo Liwanag, a gay, undocumented Filipino,[7] often mistaken as Mexican,[10][11] retail store associate, on Superstore in Fall 2015.
[17] The couple met in June 2019 at a gala to mark the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots—an event widely considered a watershed moment in the modern LGBTQ rights movement: Queerty named him one of the Pride50 "trailblazing individuals who actively ensure society remains moving towards equality, acceptance and dignity for all queer people".