Another Filipino has joined the cast of groundbreaking drama “The Cleaning Lady," which follows a Cambodian surgeon who ends up in the criminal underworld as her Filipino family faces hardships.

JB Tadena will join the cast as recurring character Paolo Bazella, a fun-loving Manila food stall owner with a close connection to the De la Rosa family.

"It means a lot because a lot of the work I’ve been doing has been with majority Asian-American, Filipino-American casts," he said. "To see us represented in that way and stories aren’t necessarily focused on our background but it definitely influences it, is a big deal."

Tadena’s career has been on the rise in recent years. Fresh from a starring role on CW’s Kung Fu, he hjas made guest appearances on several primetime shows and has lent his voice to the Disney animated series "Firebuds" as well as the movie “Raya and the Last Dragon.”

"It just felt natural to flow right into it," Tadena added. "I'm really grateful for these opportunities. They come few and far between."

It’s a relief for Tadena since the Hollywood strike kept him out of the studios for half of 2023. Production for "The Cleaning Lady" itself was halted for several months due to the workers’ walkout.  

On the months-long strike, he said: "We were fighting for what we deserve and I believe we got a lot of it. But there are still some things we have to fight for but it will take some time."

The third season of "The Cleaning Lady" premieres in March and its Filipino story lines have already brought in many familiar Filipino faces, such as Lou Diamond Philips and Princess Punzalan.

The show also plans to pay tribute to Mexican-American leading man Adan Canto who passed away from appendiceal cancer in January.