‘Blue’s Clues & You’ host Joshua Dela Cruz on having a ‘lola’ and eating bibingka on the show

Los Angeles — It is always a joy and pride when ceilings are broken in Hollywood and a Filipino actor like Joshua Dela Cruz comes along to host a popular children’s show on television like “Blue’s Clues & You.”

The good looking and charming 29-year-old Joshua, who was chosen out of 3,000 actors who auditioned for the part, considers himself lucky for bagging the coveted gig as host of the rebooted Nickelodeon children’s TV series.

The Broadway veteran who performed in such shows as “The King and I,” “Aladdin,” “Encores! Merrily We Roll Along” and David Byrne’s “Here Lies Love,” is humble about his major breakthrough role making him the first Filipino, the first Asian American host of the iconic show after former hosts Steve Burns and Donovan Patton.

The second season of “Blue’s Clues & You” even introduced Joshua’s grandmother (lola) in the person of actress Carolyn Fe and of them eating a favorite Filipino delicacy, the bibingka (rice cake).

We were able to interview Joshua recently and below are excerpts of our conversation:

How does it feel to be the only Filipino-American hosting a children’s show on mainstream television?

I am so blessed and I'm so excited to go to work every day. I love my job. I love the people that I'm working with. Our second season is airing. We're filming our third season, and I still can't believe that I get to do this for a living. I never saw myself on television. I never saw myself reflected in a way that I related to and where I could be silly and vulnerable and ask for help. And I get to do all of these things in this show and help kids now all over the world now that we're there in the Philippines and Brazil and Australia, not just the States. And so I'm so happy. I'm ecstatic. And I still can't believe it. It's weird.

Joshua Dela Cruz with lola Carolyn Fe. Courtesy: Nickelodeon

You have a Lola in this season. Talk about having Carolyn Fe and working with her.

She is amazing. She is so funny. She is so talented. She's an incredible musician and an incredible actor.

When we first met, we got along so well instantly. And the fact that I get to be a Filipino-American in this role, on this kind of show, and the fact that we get a lola and that Carolyn is our lola and introduces the entire world outside of the Philippines — that lola is grandma, that mano is showing love and respect. And that bibingka is just pure joy is so incredible. It's incredible that we get to celebrate who we are on such a stage, and in doing so, connect us all together. That just because we say things differently, it doesn't mean that we're all that different. That we all are related. That we're all connected.

You have done a lot theater also. Do you miss doing theater?

I do. I miss theater so much. There's nothing like doing a show live in front of an audience and feeding off of their energy and feeding off of the energy of the cast. And it's the same show technically every night, but it's never the same show every night. There's always something different that's going to happen.

And so I definitely miss it, and I hope to return one day soon. I'm working on a few projects, and I hope that once we're over COVID, they'll pick up and that we'll return to Broadway or return to somewhere in between shooting “Blue's Clues.”

Do you think this is a time where Filipinos are being highlighted in Hollywood? We have like Jon Jon Briones in “Ratched,” Isa Briones on “Star Trek: Picard,” Nico Santos on “Superstore” and Jacob Batalon as well on “Spider-Man.” 

You know, it's an amazing time to be alive. We have a lot of leading men and women and Filipino performers and actors that are being celebrated for who they are, not just for the color of their skin or just because they're Filipino.

They get to embody a character for once, and they get to embody a character that isn't a caricature or a joke or a villain or a foreigner. In my case, I get to be a Filipino-American.  And those two words are never really spoken in the same sentence. Like when I was growing up, you're either Filipino or you're all American, and all American doesn't look like me. So, it's an incredible time to be alive.

I hope that kids growing up right now and seeing the things that they see on TV, whether they're Filipino or not, they know that anything is possible and that the future is just beginning. So, get in there, work hard, be kind to each other and continue to love what you do.

I know you were born in Dubai, but how Filipino are you? Do you cook Filipino food? Do you speak Tagalog?

So, I'm going to say this. I speak a little bit of Tagalog. I always understand when I'm getting yelled at, but I'm currently learning Tagalog because I want to talk to my lolo fluently while he's still around. So, that's kind of been my side project that I've been working on.

I know I have cooked Filipino food in the past. I've cooked adobo, pancit, biko. Biko is one of my favorite things ever. So in our show, we cook bibingka, but in my family, we cook biko. So, I remember lola making biko and showing my mom her biko recipe. And then my mom showing me her biko recipe. The fact that we share a recipe on our show means so much to me because I can relate to that. 

So, Filipino food is something that I love, something that we would cook. My wife and I have made vegan versions of it. So, this is why I say that. I'm maybe a little bit less Filipino than I was maybe four years ago, because we've been vegan for four years. I remember when I told my mom. I was like, "Hey mom." She's like, "Do you want ..." I was like, "Oh, Amanda and I are actually vegan now." She's like, "Why?" (laughs) And we've done it for multitudes of reasons, but we are making vegan Filipino food. And there are more restaurants that are Filipino and vegan.

And so, it's only going to get better and better for vegan Filipinos. We'll be able to call ourselves Filipino once again. (His wife is actress Amanda Phillips.)

Courtesy: Nickelodeon

Have you been to the Philippines lately?

Not lately. I haven't been to the Philippines in over 10 years now. Oh, I went when I was in high school, right before my older sister was going into college. They wanted us to go home because that was one of the last times, we would all be together. And so I haven't been to the Philippines since then.

I was supposed to be there. Amanda and I were supposed to be there in July. But then unfortunately, the pandemic kind of let loose and scrapped those plans. But I plan to be there as soon as we're on the other side of this and as soon as we're all healed as a world to be able to go back and show Amanda everything that I'm so proud of and everything that has made me who I am today.

Talk about your parents as well. Did they encourage you to become an actor? Or, anybody in the family did? Are your two sisters also into acting?

It's so funny because I think my mom didn't realize what she was doing when she was talking to me. I still watch a lot of TV, but I used to watch a lot of TV growing up, and she used to say, "Josh, you watch so much TV, why don't you just be an actor?" And I remember saying like, "I'm not going to be an actor, mom, I'm going to be a lawyer." And here we are today. I hope to play a lawyer on TV or in a movie one day so that it can kind of come full circle.

So outside of that, no. My sisters were the dancers and they were the performers and I didn't come into performing until later on in my life.  And when I did, my sisters were always the ones to give me notes and give me criticisms and help me improve. And so, I remember I got a scholarship to go study musical theater at a conservatory in New Jersey at Paper Mill Playhouse, an incredible regional theater there. Their education outreach is amazing. The shows that they put on are amazing. They make theater accessible. And so I got a scholarship to study there. And that was when I realized that's what I wanted to do for a living. And my parents, they were so scared, but they were incredibly supportive, and my teachers were incredibly supportive.

When we did the show, I remember my parents were just so happy. There was a show at the end of the conservatory, and they were just blown away. Even my sisters, they were like, they gave me a couple of notes, but I remember them smiling and being like good job, and that meant so much to me.

While I am the first actor in the family, I'm definitely not the first performer. That goes to my parents, because they love singing, and then to my sisters because they taught me how to become a better performer when they would watch me, and they've always been supportive. I'll never forget that.

I know you're into healthy living and healthy practices, practicing the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. So talk about how does it help you in your career as an actor?

It's so funny because martial arts is something that has always been in my life. I studied karate when I was younger, and then I studied Taekwondo when I was a little bit older.

Then when I got into theater, I didn't really have time. Then once I was in “Aladdin” on Broadway for long enough, I wanted to go back into martial arts, but I really wasn't allowed. It was kind of under the table that this is happening. I didn't tell anybody really that I was doing Jiu-Jitsu. What I found was that it was an incredible mental and physical practice where it taught you that you can't just muscle everything. You have to be patient, you have to breathe, you have to be present, and you have to use the tools that you have. You can't overexert yourself blindly.

I think Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is one of those martial arts that's incredibly helpful. If we ever have kids, I want all of my kids to do it. I think the Philippines is one of the countries that would produce some of the best Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners in the world. I have no doubt in my mind. I hope that Jiu-Jitsu, if I can be a part of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to the Philippines, that would be such an honor for me. But yeah, if you're able to take Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, I highly recommend it.

Are you still pinching yourself that all these things are happening to you? What would you advise your younger self now?

Yes, I'm always pinching myself. I don't believe that this is happening. Every day, I wake up and I'm so grateful and I'm also in disbelief that it's still happening. If I were to tell my younger self to give my younger self advice, it would probably to be patient. It wouldn't be to don't be afraid of the hard work.

I'm very easily overwhelmed and Jiu-Jitsu and my wife and my family, my faith, and the people around me has helped me realize to take it a step at a time. Just like we say in the show. Take it one step at a time, and nothing is impossible if you do that. I would tell myself, it's okay to be afraid. It's okay to be scared. It's just going to take hard work, and you can do that. So don't be afraid. It's okay. I think that's what I would tell my younger self and just see what happens.

You have a dog in the show, but do you have a dog in real life?

We do have a real dog. His name is Ali. He is a tiny little Maltipoo — a Maltese Mini Poodle — and he is the pride and joy of my life and Amanda's.

A fun fact, in season two, he is on set with me virtually every day. So, if you're watching a season two show, he is just off camera or hiding somewhere on the set. He's always there. He gets his daily dose of bacon from the crew behind my back, of course. We're still lucky to have him. He's our mascot for the show. — LA, GMA News

“Blue’s Clues & You” is aired weekdays at 9:00 a.m. on Nickelodeon and daily at 10:45 a.m. on Nick Jr.