MANILA – Being raised by his Filipina mother in the US, standup comedian Jo Koy always brings with him his Pinoy roots.

So when he finally got the chance to star in the first-ever Filipino-centered Hollywood film, Jo Koy decided to pick a holiday close to many Filipino-Americans’ hearts – Easter Sunday.

During a media press conference in a mall in Pasay City, Jo Koy shared his reasons why he picked Easter as the backdrop of his film produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment.

According to the comedian, many Filipino families troop to one place on Easter with their potluck food and do karaoke.

“First of all, the reason why I picked Easter Sunday is because I didn’t want to pick Thanksgiving because Thanksgiving is turkey. I didn’t want to pick Christmas because Christmas is always just the immediate family,” Jo Koy explained.

“The reason why I picked Easter Sunday is because that was the holiday everybody was there. That was the day every auntie, every cousin, all the food was on the table. That’s where the chaos happens. That’s where the talent show happens. That’s where the karaoke happens,” he continued.

• With 'Easter Sunday', Jo Koy puts spotlight on Pinoy representation in Hollywood

But jokes aside, the church played a significant role in Jo Koy’s life, especially his mother Josie, when they moved to Tacoma, Washington in the 1980s.

Having only her kids in the US, Josie didn't know anybody in the community and the church became an avenue to meet other Filipinos in their community.

“What church was to her, was her Instagram, was her Facebook, was her Twitter. That was her way to try finding a community of Filipinos that lived around her,” he said.

“This generation, you can move anywhere in this world and just type in ‘Filipinos near me.’ And it will tell you every Filipino family lives near you. Back then in the '80s, what was my mom supposed to do?”

Jo Koy recalled her mom would walk up to anyone who looked like a Filipino and strike up a conversation. This paid off little by little, according to the actor, as their family eventually found themselves in a small Filipino community.

On Tuesday, Jo Koy – whose given name is Joseph Herbert Sr. – arrived in the Philippines bringing with him the first-ever Filipino film produced by a Hollywood studio, “Easter Sunday,” a dream he had since he began his journey as a comedian in 1989.

The film, Jo Koy’s love letter to the Fil-Am community, follows Jo Koy’s character returning home for an Easter celebration with his riotous family that has Pinoy roots.

“Easter Sunday”, distributed by Universal Pictures, also features an all-star cast including Jimmy Yang, Tia Carrere, Eva Nobleazada, Lydia Gaston, Eugene Cordero, and Lou Diamond Phillips.

It is directed by Jay Chandrasekhar and written by Ken Cheng.

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