As the video call connects, I hear a faint “Hello!” from, I assume, the actor I am scheduled to interview: Jo Koy. As a big fan, I couldn’t suppress my excitement and, although there is nobody yet on screen, I immediately greet him by his name. The voice responds, “No, this isn’t Jo, this is Josh,” before introducing me to the comedian, whose laugh I now hear in the background.
When the actor’s camera is turned on, he’s sitting there wearing a plain white shirt and LA Dodgers cap, fresh from the Tatler photo shoot at Filbert Kung’s studio in Beverly Hills. Behind him is a display for Easter Sunday, the first Filipino-themed film produced and globally released by a major Hollywood studio. The comedy features an almost all-Filipino cast,…