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'True Lies' star Ginger Gonzaga advocates for more Filipino characters in Hollywood

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Yong Chavez | TFC News Hollywood

<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dMNjL9-lIeg?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><p>Apart from the opportunity to play her first lead role on primetime TV, Ginger Gonzaga shared why starring in a show like &#x27;True Lies&#x27; matters to her.</p><p>&quot;The ripple effect that taking this on would have, just by my existence by my casting, I will inevitably get to hire five other Filipinos on a show,&quot; the actress said. &quot;When I first started, there was just no diversity and I&#x27;m lucky to have been able to work. I would play girlfriends or whatever, but I could if there was ever a pilot about a family, I wasn&#x27;t gonna be in it because it was gonna be white family, you know. And so that&#x27;s just the way it was. I literally wouldn&#x27;t be able to audition for the job because I couldn&#x27;t be anyone&#x27;s child because the parents were white, you know? So it was nice to wake up to kind of like the power of accepting a job like this.&quot;</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Ginger Gonzaga. Photo credit: CBS " True="" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/tfc/03/04/ginger-solo-screen-shot-2023-02-28-at-2-26-28-pm.png"/><figcaption>Ginger Gonzaga <em>CBS &quot;True Lies&quot;</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>She grew up in Modesto, California with her Dutch mother and her Filipino father who was originally from Cebu.</p><p>&#x27;True Lies&#x27; is inspired by the 1994 blockbuster film that starred Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis.</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Steve Howey and Ginger Gonzaga. Photo credit: CBS " True="" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/tfc/03/04/ginger-with-leading-man-steve-howey-119091_0188b-3405e350811c30ee.jpg"/><figcaption>Steve Howey and Ginger Gonzaga <em>CBS &quot;True Lies&quot;</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>In the TV series, Steve Howey plays Harry Tasker who kept his job as an international spy a secret from his wife, Helen, played by Gonzaga.</p><p>&quot;It is the Jamie Lee Curtis character, but I intentionally didn&#x27;t watch the film before I did it because I didn&#x27;t want to copy her. I love her, I’m not trying — I can&#x27;t be her. So I just kind of treated it like a brand new role and what I would do with it. And I think that because the show, writing-wise, has the DNA of the movie, it&#x27;ll be &#x27;True Lies&#x27; and then it&#x27;ll be a very 2023 version of it. I think it&#x27;s super-fun,&quot; Gonzaga shared.</p><p>The actress is also a strong advocate for LGBTQ rights as well as mental health awareness for which she is working on an upcoming project for the Philippines.</p><p>It was while studying political science in college that she realized that what she really wanted to do was be an actress.</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Ginger Gonzaga at the Hollywood premiere of Easter Sunday" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/tfc/03/04/ginger-easter-sunday.png"/><figcaption>Ginger Gonzaga at the Hollywood premiere of Easter Sunday <em>Yong Chavez</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>In playing a working mother and wife turned spy in &#x27;True Lies,&#x27; Gonzaga said she found her most challenging role thus far.</p><p>&quot;Motherhood always lends itself unavoidably to just so much caretaking. And eventually you&#x27;re kind of on autopilot and you don&#x27;t get off of it for many years because your primary goal now is to make sure that these kids stay alive. And I think that there is sometimes a sense of losing yourself in that because you&#x27;re just giving and giving.&quot;</p><p>She added, &quot;when she becomes a spy, and she&#x27;s forced into this thing, she&#x27;s also forced to use all of these skill sets that she has. So she&#x27;s forced to use all the languages that she knows. She&#x27;s forced to use the physicality that she&#x27;s good at and it&#x27;s almost like a reminder, and a return to herself rather than a reinvention. Like: Hang on a second, I&#x27;m super special. I know I have to take care of all the people and teach all the time and do all these things, but like, I can do a lot of cool stuff.&quot;</p><p>Gonzaga was also a series regular in the Disney+ show &#x27;She-Hulk&#x27;.</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="True Lies poster. Photo credit: CBS “True Lies”" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/tfc/03/04/poster-tls_s01_dungeon_horizontalmaster_3840x2160_012723-8a6b919590a99061.jpg"/><figcaption><em>CBS “True Lies”</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>&#x27;True Lies&#x27; airs on CBS and streams on Paramount+.</p>

By starring in the TV series 'True Lies,' Ginger Gonzaga made her character Filipino, leading to more characters of the same nationality on the show.