Nico Santos

Santos appeared in the Off-Broadway play, Happy Talk, in spring of 2019. It is written by Jesse Eisenberg and directed by Scott Elliott.

In June 2019, 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".

Santos' parents were both undocumented before becoming citizens. Santos’ mother is supportive of his career and often attended his open-mic performances.

Nico Santos is a Filipino-American actor known for portraying sales associate Mateo Liwanag in the NBC series Superstore. On 10 December 2018, Santos was nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.

He had a supporting role in the 2018 romantic comedy Crazy Rich Asians, directed by Jon M. Chu.

Santos is openly gay and as of 2018 is in a relationship with Zeke Smith, who participated on the 33rd - Millennials vs. Gen X and 34th - Game Changers editions of the CBS reality game show Survivor.

Santos performed at the Bridgetown Comedy Festival in 2017.

Santos transitioned his focus back to acting in 2014, when he landed a spot in the annual CBS Diversity Showcase. He originally got in as a writer but did some acting when he substituted for another Asian actor who dropped out. As a result of the showcase, which is presented to a slew of industry professionals which includes agents and casting directors, he soon found himself being invited to more and more auditions, eventually landing him a role on the NBC comedy television show, Superstore. He premiered as Mateo Liwanag, a gay, undocumented Filipino (however often mistaken as Mexican) retail store associate, on Superstore in Fall 2015.

In 2012, he started appearing regularly on the late night talk show, Chelsea Lately, as a panelist while working concurrently as a restaurant host.

He moved to San Francisco in 2001, where he worked at various luxury retail stores in Union Square for eight years while doing stand-up, often going to open mics right after work. He later moved to Los Angeles in pursuit of a stand-up career but found it difficult to advance due to comedy club politics.