Famous People You Didn't Know Were Filipino

The Philippines has quietly supplied the world with some of its biggest stars — chart-toppers, Hollywood leads, Broadway legends and beauty queens — and most people have no idea. Family stories stay private, surnames get shortened, and the islands rarely make the press release. Here are the famous faces you probably didn't know carry Filipino roots (some of them full-blooded, raised on adobo and karaoke like anyone else).

Bruno Mars — pop's biggest hitmaker grew up on Filipino songs

Bruno Mars was born Peter Gene Hernandez in Honolulu, Hawaii. His father, Pedro Hernandez, is Filipino (his family traces back to Pampanga) with Puerto Rican heritage, and his mother, Bernadette San Pedro Bayot, was a Filipino-Spanish singer and hula dancer who immigrated from the Philippines. Bruno grew up performing in his family's band in Waikiki, doing Elvis and Motown covers — but the soundtrack at home was Filipino classics. He has said openly that his Filipino relatives were his first audience, and that his love of performing came straight from watching his mother sing.

Apl.de.ap — the Black Eyed Peas rapper from Pampanga

Allan Pineda Lindo, better known as apl.de.ap, was born in Angeles City, Pampanga. Raised by his mother in a rural barrio, he was adopted by an American family and moved to the United States at 14 — landing in Los Angeles, where he'd eventually meet will.i.am and form what became the Black Eyed Peas. He never left the Philippines behind: "The Apl Song" and "Bebot" are sung partly in Tagalog, he's a mouth-watering advocate for Filipino food, and he funds schools and charities in Pampanga to this day.

Olivia Rodrigo — Disney kid turned global pop star

Before "drivers license" broke Spotify records, Olivia Rodrigo was a Disney Channel actress — and before that, she was a kid from Temecula, California, whose mother is Filipino-American. Her grandfather is Ilocano, and Olivia grew up eating lumpia at family reunions and hearing about her great-grandfather, who came from the Philippines as a young man. She has said her Filipino heritage is "a huge part" of who she is, and she made a point of celebrating it as her career took off.

Vanessa Hudgens — High School Musical's Gabriella

Vanessa Hudgens, star of Disney's High School Musical phenomenon, has a Filipina mother, Gina Guangco, who moved to the US from the Philippines, and a father of Irish and Native American descent. Vanessa grew up visiting relatives in the islands and has called her Filipino side "a big part" of her upbringing. Fun detail: she filmed part of her travels on Philippine beaches and has repeatedly said Manila feels like a second home.

Nicole Scherzinger — the Pussycat Dolls frontwoman

Nicole Scherzinger, lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls, was born in Honolulu to a Filipina-Hawaiian mother. Her maternal grandmother was Filipino, and Nicole grew up surrounded by her mother's family's food, music and church community before her family relocated to Kentucky. She's spoken proudly about her roots in interviews — and Filipinos claimed her long ago, treating every Pussycat Dolls concert in Manila like a homecoming.

Hailee Steinfeld — from True Grit to Pitch Perfect

Oscar-nominated for True Grit at just 14 and later the voice of Gwen Stacy in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Hailee Steinfeld has a Filipino grandfather on her mother's side. Her maternal grandfather, Ricardo Domasin, was Filipino — which makes Hailee half-Filipino by blood, as she cheerfully points out in interviews. Her Pitch Perfect co-stars found out the same way the internet did: she mentions it, everyone is surprised, and Filipino fans immediately adopt her as one of their own.

Jordan Clarkson — NBA champion of Filipino heritage

Jordan Clarkson, NBA Sixth Man of the Year in 2021 with the Utah Jazz, has a Filipina mother — and unlike most stars with distant roots, he actually put on the Philippine jersey. He suited up for Gilas Pilipinas at the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship in Changsha, where his performances made an entire nation (and every Filipino basketball fan on earth) claim him for good. In the Philippines, where the NBA is followed with religious devotion, Clarkson is arguably the most beloved active Filipino-American player.

Jalen Green — the NBA star born in Metro Manila

Jalen Green's story is the most literal on this list: he was actually born in the Philippines, in Pasig City, Metro Manila, in 2002, to a Filipina mother. The family later moved to California, where he developed into one of the most hyped shooting guards of his generation — enough to be selected second overall in the 2021 NBA draft by the Houston Rockets. He's spoken proudly about his roots, and for young Filipino ballers he's living proof that an NBA career can literally start in Manila.

Enrique Iglesias — Spanish pop royalty with a Filipina mother

Enrique Iglesias, one of the best-selling Latin artists of all time, is the son of singer Julio Iglesias and Isabel Preysler — a journalist and socialite born in Manila to a Spanish family settled in the Philippines. Isabel is widely described as Filipina-Spanish, and Enrique spent part of his childhood around his mother's Manila-rooted family before moving to Miami. He rarely talks about it, but Filipino media never forgets: every Enrique interview mentions "our kababayan's son".

Arnel Pineda — the YouTube discovery who saved Journey

This one isn't a secret at all in the Philippines, but the rest of the world still gasps: in 2007, Journey's guitarist Neal Schon was searching YouTube for a new lead singer and found clips of Arnel Pineda, a Manila singer who had survived homelessness and years in cover bands. One audition later, Arnel was fronting one of rock's most famous bands, singing "Don't Stop Believin'" to stadiums. His story became a documentary, "Don't Stop Believin': Everyman's Journey", and remains one of the great rock-and-roll rags-to-riches tales.

Lea Salonga — the voice of Jasmine and Mulan

If you've ever hummed "A Whole New World" or "Reflection", you know Lea Salonga's voice even if you don't know her name. The Manila-born star won a Tony for Miss Saigon and became the singing voice of Jasmine in Aladdin and Mulan in Disney's Mulan. She was also the first Asian actress to play Éponine (and later Fantine) in Les Misérables on Broadway. In the Philippines she's a national treasure; everywhere else, she's the secretly-Filipino soundtrack of two generations of Disney fans.

Bella Poarch — the TikTok queen raised in the Philippines

Bella Poarch, who owns one of the most-liked TikTok videos in history and launched a music career with "Build a B*tch", was born and raised in the Philippines. She spent her childhood on her grandmother's farm in Pangasinan before moving to the US as a young teen, later serving in the US Navy. She speaks Tagalog, cooks Filipino food on camera, and has talked openly about growing up poor in the provinces — making her one of the most visible Filipino creators in the world.

Catriona Gray — Miss Universe 2018

Catriona Gray, Miss Universe 2018, was born in Cairns, Australia to a Filipino mother and Australian father — then moved to the Philippines, learned the culture from the inside, and won the crown as the Philippine delegate. Her lava-inspired national costume and her "raise your flag" answer became instantly iconic. She still works on education charities in Manila and remains one of the country's most beloved ambassadors.

Pia Wurtzbach — Miss Universe 2015

Three years before Catriona, Pia Wurtzbach brought the crown back to the Philippines. Born in Stuttgart, Germany to a Filipina mother and German father, Pia grew up in Cebu and Manila, worked as an actress, and won Miss Universe on her third try at the national pageant. She's since built a global career as a UNAIDS advocate and media personality — and never stops reminding people she's "a proud Cebuana".

Jessica Sanchez — American Idol's powerhouse

Jessica Sanchez finished runner-up on American Idol season 11 at just 16, with a voice that made the judges compare her to established divas. She's Filipina-Mexican-American: her father is Mexican, her mother Filipina (from Bataan). Jessica has performed in Manila to adoring crowds and returned to the national stage in 2024, proving the voice still stuns.

Lou Diamond Phillips — born in the Philippines, famous in Hollywood

Lou Diamond Phillips, the star of La Bamba, Young Guns and Stand and Deliver, was born at the Subic Bay Naval Station in the Philippines. His father was a Filipino-American sailor and his mother is Filipina-Spanish. He grew up in Texas but has always acknowledged his birthplace — and Filipino audiences have a special claim on him as one of their own who made it in 1980s Hollywood.

Paulino Alcántara — the Barça legend born in Iloilo

Football had a Filipino superstar a century before it was cool. Paulino Alcántara was born in Iloilo in 1896 to a Filipino mother and Spanish father, moved to Barcelona as a teenager, and made his FC Barcelona debut at just 15. He went on to score 357 official goals for the club — a record that stood for almost a century until Lionel Messi broke it in 2014 — and FIFA once named him one of the greatest Asian footballers of all time. Barcelona's gates still bear his legacy; few tourists strolling past them know the club's first icon was Filipino.

Alex Eala — tennis history's newest Filipina

Alex Eala, born in Quezon City in 2005, has become the most famous Filipino athlete on the planet — and she's barely out of her teens. Trained at the Rafael Nadal Academy in Mallorca (Nadal himself has congratulated her on social media), she won the 2022 US Open junior title as the first Filipino to win a junior Grand Slam singles crown. In 2025 she stunned the tennis world at the Miami Open, beating world No. 5 Madison Keys and world No. 2 Iga Świątek on her way to the semifinal — the first Filipino ever to reach a WTA 1000 semifinal. In August 2026 she made history again, winning her first WTA Tour-level title in Washington DC and rocketing into the world's top 20. Filipino prime-time TV now rearranges itself around her matches.

Dro Fernández — the Barcelona-to-PSG kid with a Filipina mother

The newest name on this list is barely old enough to drive. Pedro "Dro" Fernández Sarmiento, born in Galicia, Spain in 2008 to a Filipina mother and Spanish father, broke into FC Barcelona's first team from La Masia at just 17 in 2025, scoring on his pre-season debut and playing Champions League football weeks later. By early 2026 he had completed a big-money move to Paris Saint-Germain, and the Philippine Football Federation has already approached him to represent the country. Half of Manila now checks PSG lineups the way it used to check Pacquiao's weigh-ins.

Manny Pacquiao — the legend the world already knows

You knew this one — but any list of famous Filipinos has to end with Manny Pacquiao, the only eight-division world champion in boxing history. From sleeping on the streets of General Santos City to becoming a senator and global sports icon, Manny's story is the Philippines' story: humble origins, outsized heart, and a nation of 110 million cheering behind him.

More than trivia

What ties these stories together is a pattern: migration, mixed families, and talent that travels. Millions of Filipinos live and work abroad, and their kids keep showing up on stage, screen and stadium everywhere. If you're planning a move to the islands yourself, understanding this diaspora — and the history behind it — is a great place to start. Our Philippine history guide for expats covers the context behind it all.

Kababayan everywhere — raise your flag.