Amanda Joy
Ethnicity: Filipina-Chinese
Occupation: Actor and Screenwriter
Years of experience: I began working in the industry as a child model when I was three years old. My sister and I modelled for publications like the Sears Catalogue and The Toronto Star. and would occasionally do commercials when there weren’t many Asian-Canadian kids featured in ads.
Personal & professional philosophy:
Find small ways to make the world a better place with your work—whether by making people laugh, or making them think. Shed light on injustice when possible. Be kind to those who need help. Upon reflection, my philosophy is probably very cultural in origin—it all comes back to pakikipagkapwa.
Upcoming performances/ project:
Second Jen Series 3 premieres on February 14th (Valentine’s Day). Another highlight: I’ll be appearing in the new BYU-TV show, The Parker Andersons, for which I’m also a writer.
What is the highlight of your work:
In Second Jen Season 3 I wrote an episode centred on a Filipino family (Episode 6, Balikbayan). I don’t think there’s been anything like it on a primetime Canadian TV show before—a story told from a Filipino perspective, featuring Tagalog, featuring mano, featuring polvoron… but more importantly, featuring a Filipino family with a bond so strong it defies an entire ocean of distance. It’s the kind of family I recognize—the kind we all know, who maybe only see each other on Skype at carefully planned hours when the time-zones align. The kind who feel that deep familial love despite being far apart.
Future goals:
To bring more authentic Filipinx and SEA representation in media. We are the under-represented of the under-represented — but our stories are diverse, and lush, and deserve to be seen and heard.
