About Jonathan

Jonathan is a first generation Filipino-Chinese American born in San Francisco, CA. At the age of 5 his parents, Philippine immigrants, purchased their first home in Union City, CA. There Jonathan grew up with his two, younger siblings until he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Biology at the California State University, Hayward. He was ready for optometry school but decided to take a short break and work in Tech Support for to earn some money. He has been a successful Silicon Valley professional to this day.

As fate would have it, the acting bug that has always buzzed in his ear since he was 7 years old wouldn't go away. Jonathan began acting professionally in 1995. As soon as he put himself out there he shortly landed his first gig as the adult hero in a commercial for Jollibee, (the Filipino McDonald's), when it expanded into the San Francisco Bay Area. Since then he has worked steadily in other on-camera and voice over projects with clients such as Google, AirBnB, SalesForce, Safeway, Hasbro, Sony Computer Entertainment America, PG&E, Kaiser Permanente, 3Com, Cisco, Dell, and dozens of others.

He studied extensively with Elaine Clark, author of, "There's Money Where Your Mouth Is" and Founder of VoiceOne in San Francisco. While working on the craft of voice acting and narration, it was there that he met his first agent and was blessed to find regular work. During that time Jonathan also met, networked and learned from many other working professionals: many whom are now successful and recognizable in LA. He participated in some theatrical productions, notably as Etienne, the cuckold and nosy butler in Georges Feydeau's "A Flea In Her Ear". As the time became ripe to move to the logical next step (moving to LA), Jonathan put his acting career on hold in 2000 to get married and start a Family.

In 2006, he started seeing friends and fellow actors, from the 90s, star, guest star and recur in shows on the three major networks as well as cable. If they could be successful, so could he. At the time, the tech world was getting mundane and so the acting bug bit again. One of those friends led him to his current acting coach, manager, and friend: Nancy Berwid. While still working as a Technical Training professional Jonathan studies at Nancy's Acting School, First Take. With her guidance and acting sensibility, as well as his dedication and work ethic, Jonathan was able to:

Obtain representation at one of San Francisco's largest talent agency, Stars
Be invited to join the prestigious, Screen Actors Guild
Complete projects and get listed on IMDB
Become represented by NB Management in L.A.
Prove his acting chops and sign with Denny Sevier at The House of Representatives: one of Hollywood's most renowned and respected Talent Agents, at one of L.A.'s top boutique agencies

Starting in July of 2019, Jonathan was asked to join the First Take staff where he teaches the On Camera Techniques, the Adult Core and Teen Core Scene Study classes. You can sit in on one of Jonathan's classes for FREE by sending an email to info@firsttake.org. Attend live in Los Gatos, Ca or via Zoom!

While Jonathan would someday like to move full-time into the Film and Television industry, his dedication to his family will always come first. He is blessed by the unique opportunity with First Take and NB Management, which not only allows him to travel to LA and audition for mainstream projects, but live in the Bay Area, which will always be home, and work in a cloud and security tech career he loves. Additionally, Jonathan has been able to network with, learn from, and perform with dozens of major Hollywood casting directors. It is only a matter of time, dedication and grit before he joins the ranks of his successful film and television actor friends.

In his spare time, Jonathan loves spending time with his wife and teens in Saratoga, plays ice hockey and mountain bikes. He is also a semi-pro photographer specializing in headshots and is an FAA licensed drone pilot.