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Theater actress and singer Lea Salonga became one of the most prominent Filipinos who made a name for herself in America. She became the first Filipina to voice a Disney princess. She also starred in Broadway shows such as Miss Saigon and Les Misérables, cementing her status as a theater actress.

Eventually, Lea stayed in the US and married American businessman Robert Charles Chien in 2004. In 2006, she gave birth to their child, Nic, who lived in the US and would visit the Philippines from time to time.

In the latest video of Theatre Group Asia, Lea and Nic shared some of their insights about being Filipinos living abroad. One of the things Nic asked Lea about was her high school life in the Philippines.

According to Lea, it was very different and innocent compared to today, especially since there was no social media yet during her time, noting how what happened at their school stayed at their school.

“Of course, in my case it's different 'cause I was already working and so I was a well-known person already by that time. But even then, it was very easy to control your image, it was very easy to control what went out. I kind of miss that time,” she shared.

Nic, living and studying in the US, shared how stressful his high school life was since most kids are “meaner nowadays,” noting how America has a lot more racism.

“It's not cool that you're doing this, like they say crazy things that they shouldn't say, be rude to some, say, other girls. These are issues that I didn't really have to deal with back in the Philippines, because I don't know if this is a thing, but my club was super accepting, super sweet. Everybody loved each other,” Nic said.

He also noted how Americans usually have a hard time accepting people and even admitted that there was a time he would feel like an outsider.

While being Filipino may have been hard for Nic while living in America, he shared that it was what shaped his life there.

“I normally, on a day-to-day basis, I would see people who look like me, now I don't and they don't really do that, I don't get that to really happen. And I have to kind of feel like the representative of my country in the school. Because I'm the only Filipino kid,” Nic said.

Lea, on the other hand, shared her experience either as one of the many Filipinos in a production, or the only one in a building.

“I was in the company of so many other Filipinos. So it meant that I could launch into Tagalog and know I could find somebody that would understand. I'm here in this very strange country with a culture that's so very different from mine. I need to hang on to a little bit of home to not go insane. There's that,” she said.

She continued, “And then, after I left Miss Saigon, in New York, like months after, I end up in a show where I am literally the only Asian person in the entire building, and that is interesting.”

Lea said that while she's grateful for the incredible opportunities she received, she also understood that “there's gonna be so many pairs of eyes on me waiting for me to fail.”

“There was that bit of pressure, and I was like, 'Hell nah, I'm not going to allow for any room, for anybody to say 'she doesn't belong up there.' I was not about to one, embarrass my boss, two, embarrass myself, and three, embarrass my country. It was like 'No way, that is not happening,'” she said.

Lea revealed that even until now, whenever she sings “On My Own,” the song best related to her character in Les Misérables as Eponine, it means more than just a beautiful song, especially since she revealed that people would come up to her to say how she inspired them to try something.

“I try to be cool and not get too emotional, but it's like 'Oh wow.' To be able to be that person to someone, it's pretty crazy and really wonderful, and to continue to work in the Philippines where you're with your people, creating theater,” Lea said.

Lea and Nic star in the Philippine run of the stage play Into the Woods together with Eugene Domingo and other Filipino theater actors.

TAKE A LOOK AT THE KAPUSO STARS WHO STARRED IN THEATER PRODUCTIONS IN THIS GALLERY: