From Disney Channel star to global pop sensation, Olivia RodrigueThe rise to world fame has been one for the books. With her recent success, many fans have been curious about the ethnicity of the “deja vu” singer. Rodrigo is actually Asian-American and has been very open about her heritage over the years.
The first mention of his legacy dates back to his time on the Disney Channel series Bizaardvark. She took part in a campaign video for Asia-Pacific American Heritage Month where she proudly claimed, “I am an Asia-Pacific Islander.”
In the video, she talked about her father Ronald being Filipino and how her great-grandfather came from the Philippines on a boat as a teenager.
“My heritage is part of who I am. I am part Filipino on my father’s side of the family. My Filipino heritage comes from my great-grandfather. He came on a ship from the Philippines when he was just a teenager. Can you imagine moving to a whole new country on your own? »
During an interview with the Center for Asian American Media in 2018, Rodrigo explained how his family’s Filipino traditions have “rippled through” his generation and expressed interest in visiting the Philippines.
“My great-grandfather immigrated here from the Philippines when he was just a teenager. He is my grandmother’s father and my grandfather is also Filipino. My father grew up in a house where they always made Filipino food, his grandfather always spoke Tagalog. All those traditions have been passed down to our generation. Every Thanksgiving, we have lumpias and things like that. I’ve never been to the Philippines , but I really want to. We still have extended family there, but I’ve never met them. It’s on my bucket list, definitely. When we were doing the video about Asia and the Pacific Islands, my whole family participated. They sent me photos for the video. I learned so much about it from my family. This video taught me a lot. It’s so important to know your culture. Talking about it with them was really instructive.
Last year, in an exclusive interview with Bowen Yang for Magazine Vshe revealed the heartwarming responses she received from young girls due to her Filipino status and the importance of Asian-American representation in pop music.
“I sometimes get DMs from little girls who are like, ‘I’ve never seen anyone look like me in your position.’ And I’m literally going to cry… Like just thinking about it. I feel like I grew up never seeing that. Plus, it was always like, ‘Pop star,’ she’s a white girl.”
Rodrigo’s success in 2021 has been groundbreaking, especially for Asian representation. She had one of the best-selling songs of the year, a critically acclaimed Grammy-winning debut album, and received numerous accolades, including Weather‘s Entertainer of the Year and Billboardis the woman of the year.
As she continues to achieve overwhelming mainstream commercial success, more and more people will start to see her as an inspiration, especially young Filipino and Asian girls who want to break into the entertainment industry. From his role in Bizaardvark With fellow Asian-American Madison Hu to become the face of Gen Z, Rodrigo’s stardom will hopefully open the doors to much more diverse representation in Hollywood.
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