If you tuned in this week's to one of Fox's most watched show, The Cleaning Lady, it highlighted many Filipino elements. Guest stars, father and daughter Lou Diamond Phillips and Gracie Phillips added to the family narrative of the show. The Fil-Am actors contributed to the Filipino elements of the show by speaking Tagalog and sharing relatable family stories.
This was the first time veteran actor Lou Diamond Phillips acted together with his daughter Gracie, telling TV Line it was "incredibly natural" for the both of them. “It was just so wonderful. I had no doubt that we would have instant chemistry and a shorthand to work with.” The father-daughter duo only had one scene together, but the entire episode led to that moment. His character, Joe is an anonymous bone marrow donor who backed out of the procedure for Thony's son, Luca. With a change of heart at the end because of a Filipino lullaby similar to "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," it led to a reunion between him and his daughter.
The episode showed a few commonalities between the main characters and the Phillips' characters. Sometime we all need a reminder of where we came from and how we got to where we are. They talk about how Fiona's cooking reminds him of his Lola's, how their home is similar to his childhood home, and how the lullaby Thony sang to Luca was the same song his wife sang to Grace.
It's not often we see this much Filipino-ness anywhere on media so it's both surprising and fun to see. This episode still carried the overarching plot of the show, but it was refreshing to see how much thought went into making sure the details were right. Even the episode title name is named, "Kabayan" which means fellow country men.
Miranda Kwok created and produced the first primetime drama on Fox that stars an Asian woman. The show is based on an Argentinian series, “La Chica Que Limpia” but she pitched it to Fox to have Southeast Asian leads to break the stereotype. "What I wanted to do was … just show people that no matter who you are, where you’re from or what profession you’ve had, everyone deserves the same amount of respect and dignity.” Each episode so far brings new perspective on the immigrant story.
If you haven't yet seen The Cleaning Lady, catch it on Mondays on Fox at 9PM. It's worth a watch!
Cover Photo Credit: Gracie Phillips Instagram
