★ M.A.R.A.★

[above and more photos via]

Padma Lakshmi

October 1, 2009 - The gorgeous Indian model, turned actress, turned author and Emmy-nominated co-host of cooking show, Top Chef, confirmed today that she is pregnant with her first child.  (The father has not been revealed.)   

Read the jaw dropping story about how she got that 7 inch scar that runs between her elbow and shoulder here.  All I’ll say is that it happened when she was 14 and involved being airborne, a tree, and the jaws of life…

Lakshmi was born in Madras, now Chennai (Tamil Nadu) on September 1, 1970,  and married Salman Rushdie, the author of the controversial, Satanic Verses, in 2004 and divorced after 3 years.  More on Lakshmi’s career and life on Wiki and IMDB.

Patrick Gallagher

is currently starring as Coach Ken Tanaka on Fox’s hit series Glee.  Gallagher also most recently played one of Erik’s main vampires, Chow, on HBO’s hit series True Blood.  (Heard of it?)  Gallagher was also Atilla the Hun in both 2009 & 2006 installments of Ben Stiller’s Night at the Museum AND Grimes in BSG’s March 18, 2005 episode, “Colonial Day”.

Seriously - Glee, True Blood, and Battlestar Galactica? ROCK ON!

Glee returns April 13, 2010 See full episodes here.

[via]

Gallagher (at right) as Chow on True Blood. 

[IMDB]

Gallagher was born on February 21, 1968 in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada.  Though his name relays no Asian roots, I suspect he is of part Asian descent.  Some research narrows my guess to either Chinese or Filipino or both (10% and 2% population in BC per Wiki.)  More on Patrick Gallagher at IMDB.

UPDATE! (as of December 30, 2009)

Got an email from the man himself! Woot! Patrick Gallagher confirmed he is of Chinese and Irish-American descent.  (Note: No primary source had confirmed this information at the time of my original September 2009 post.  Though Wiki has edited its post, it does not have a reference.  Vancouver Sun quotes Gallagher with this info, Nov 21, 2009)

Stay tuned for more UPDATES.  Thanks for the email Patrick Gallagher!

Click to see more posts on Glee

Other Keywords: Patrick Gallagher is Chinese, Irish-American, Patrick Gallagher ethnicity confirmed, asian guy on glee, coach on glee, coach tanaka, chow on true blood, true blood vampire, erik’s vampire, Grimes on bsg battlestar galactica, colonial day episode, original airdate mar 18, 2005
Other Sources: Entertainment Weekly

famousfilipinos: (originally posted September 24, 2009)

Mindy Kaling

is a damn FUNNY woman.  She currently stars as Kelly Kapoor on the Emmy-award winning, Ricky Gervais executive-produced, NBC hit show, The Office, which also stars Steve Carrell, Rainn Wilson, John Krasinski, and Jenna Fischer among a cast of hilarious and talented comedians.  Kaling also co-executive produces and writes many of the show’s episodes.  [More 2009 Emmy pics of Mindy Kaling here]

Vera Mindy Chokalingam was born June 24, 1979 in Cambridge, Mass to Tamil Hindu parents from India. She attended a private high-school and subsequently graduated from Dartmouth College in 2001. 

In May 2009, NBC signed a 7-figure contract with Kaling to develop and star in a new comedy while continuing to write, produce and star in The Office.  This is only 5 years after first being hired to write for the show. 

Named one of the Top 10 Funniest Actresses in Hollywood by Entertainment Weekly in April 2009, Kaling’s success trajectory is not only enviable, but also, and more importantly, at least as I see it, encouraging.  Female, Minority, 7 figure deal with a major network, string of successful movies, and starring and producing hit prime time tv shows all by the age of 30.  PHENOMENAL!  ROCK IT KALING…

More interesting stories about how Kaling first got her break to star in The Office and how her character was developed here.  A list of her works can be seen on her IMDB file.  She also has a blog where she posts photos and talks about things she buys that she likes…aptly named “things i bought that i like”.

The new season of The Office premiered on NBC,
Thursday, September 17th, 9pm

famousfilipinos:

Vanessa Hudgens at Bandslam Movie Premiere, Aug 6th

Bandslam is about 2 teens who bond through their shared love of music and recruit more musicians to form a rock group to compete in their school’s battle of the bands. [More at Wiki] The movie also stars Lisa Kudrow of Friends.  Rotten Tomatoes rating is at a high of 81%.

Hudgens is currently filming her next movie, Beastly, which is a ‘modern-day take on the “Beauty and the Beast” tale where a New York teen is transformed into a hideous monster in order to find true love.’ [IMDB]  Also stars Neil Patrick Harris, Mary-Kate Olsen, and Peter Krause.