Pinoy Pride sa Hollywood: Three Filipina Actresses Win Big at 2026 Actors Awards
It was a huge night for Filipino representation in Hollywood as three Filipina actresses — Kristin Villanueva, Isa Briones, and Amielynn Abellera — took home awards at the 32nd Annual Actors Awards (formerly the SAG Awards) in Los Angeles.
The trio, all cast members of the hit medical drama "The Pitt," won Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series along with the rest of the show's cast. The series, which follows the grueling 15-hour shifts at a fictional Pittsburgh trauma center, notably highlights the outsized role Filipino healthcare workers play in the American medical system.
Villanueva and Abellera play nurses "Perlah" and "Princess" respectively, while Briones portrays the controversial "Dr. Trinity Santos." Their characters put a spotlight on the real-life contributions of Filipinos in healthcare — a community that makes up a disproportionately large share of nurses in the United States.
At the ceremony, Briones was visibly emotional. "I'm the daughter of an immigrant! I'm here and I have my dad with me," she told reporters. Her father, acclaimed stage and screen actor Jon Jon Briones, was equally moved: "It's wild because everyone in the Philippines right now are crying and their hearts are full and very proud of this little one."
Both father and daughter sent love to fans back home, with Isa shouting "Mabuhay!" and Jon Jon adding, "Kamusta na kayo lahat? Nandito kami para sa inyo." The moment instantly went viral across Filipino social media, further cementing the country's growing footprint in mainstream Hollywood storytelling.
Source: Philippine Canadian Inquirer
