Jon Jon Briones
Born
Ernesto Cloma Briones Jr.

(1965-08-07) August 7, 1965 (age 58)
Quezon City, Philippines
Citizenship
  • Philippines
  • United States
OccupationActor
Spouse
Megan Johnson
​
(m. 1996)​
Children

Ernesto Cloma Briones Jr.,[1] known as Jon Jon Briones (born August 7, 1965),[2] is a Filipino-American actor best known for his work in musical theatre. He was born in Quezon City, Philippines and became a United States citizen in 2010.[3]

Career

While an engineering student in the Philippines, Briones became involved with the original 1989 London production of Miss Saigon. Briones had a friend who was a producer in the Philippines, who asked Briones to help "facilitate an audition" for the Cameron Mackintosh team who were holding auditions in the Philippines for Miss Saigon. In addition to helping with the organization of the auditions, Briones himself auditioned for and then became a member of the ensemble.[4]

He has been involved with various touring productions of Miss Saigon, as a swing and covering other roles, finally playing the Engineer. In 2014 he joined the original cast of the Miss Saigon West End revival, playing the Engineer.[5] He was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical for playing this role and won the Whatsonstage.com Award for Best Actor in a Musical.[6][7] He remained in the role until the production closed on February 27, 2016.[8]

In 2017, Briones transferred with the production to Broadway at the Broadway Theatre. Previews started on March 1, 2017, with an official opening on March 23.[9]

On April 30, 2019, Briones received the Visionary Award from East West Players during their annual awards dinner and silent auction.[10] The award is given to celebrate individuals that are able to raise the visibility of Asian Pacific Americans through their work.[11] During his acceptance speech, Briones said that his "vision is that we change hearts and minds in Hollywood and in the theatre community so they see that we have a voice and a story – beautiful stories – to tell, and we are the ones who can and should tell it."[12]

In 2018, he appeared in The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story as Modesto Cunanan, father of Gianni Versace's murderer, Andrew Cunanan, and in American Horror Story: Apocalypse as Ariel Augustus.

In 2020, Briones appeared in the Netflix drama series Ratched,[13] portraying Dr. Richard Hanover.[14]

In 2022, Briones appeared in the second season of Star Trek: Picard, on which his daughter Isa is a main cast member.

Personal life

In 1996, Briones married Megan Johnson. They have two children: Isa Briones (b. 1999) and Teo Briones (b. 2005).[15] His wife and children are also actors.[16]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2007 Potluck Short film
2008 Proud American Dawn's Father
2008 An Immigrant Girl's Journey Paulo Alcedo Short film
2008 Brown Soup Thing Uncle Jon Jon
2010 Breathe Rhadamanths Short film
2012 Jolly B. Fierce Edward Biagan Short film
2012 Nico's Sampaguita Raul Short film
2012 Just an American Father of Dawn Trang
2014 Sinbad: The Fifth Voyage Asian Genie
2014 Blood Ransom Father Mena
2016 Miss Saigon: 25th Anniversary The Engineer
2018 Model Home Mr. Fan
2022 Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration Maurice TV film special
2023 The Last Voyage of the Demeter Joseph
TBA Patron Saints of Nothing Tito Maning

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2003–04 Las Vegas Cosme Caliyag 2 episodes
2007 Moonlight Party Goer Episode: "Out of the Past"
2008 Sons of Anarchy Asian Elvis Episode: "Pilot"
2009 Monk First Mercenary Episode: "Mr. Monk and the Magician"
2010 Miami Medical Technician Episode: "Diver Down"
2010 Law & Order: LA Brant Ross Episode: "Hollywood"
2011 Southland Rama Episode: "Graduation Day"
2013 The Mentalist Mr. Lam Episode: "My Blue Heaven"
2014 Bones Adrian Lingao Episode: "Big in the Philippines"
2017 Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders Lama Vajra Episode: "Abominable"
2018 The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story Modesto Cunanan 2 episodes
2018 Designated Survivor Prime Minister Khallou Episode: "Bad Reception"
2018 American Horror Story: Apocalypse Ariel Augustus 3 episodes
2019 Better Things Himself Episode: "The Unknown"
2019 All Rise Daniel Mendoza Episode: "How to Succeed in Law Without Really Re-Trying"
2020 Ratched Dr. Richard Hanover 7 episodes
2021 Trese Hank Voice role[17]
2022 Star Trek: Picard Confederation Magistrate Episode: "Penance"
2022 Transformers: EarthSpark Alex Malto Voice role[18]
2023 Class of '09 Gabriel[19] Main cast

Theatre credits

Year Production Role Venue
2023 Waterfall: A New Musical (2023 production)[20] Than Chao Khun Muangthai Rachadalai Theatre

References

  1. ^ Blank, Matthew (October 21, 2014). "CUE & A: London's Miss Saigon Star Jon Jon Briones on Sammy Davis Jr., "Field of Dreams" and Two Decades as The Engineer". Playbill.
  2. ^ "Briones Broadway" Playbill, retrieved September 24, 2017
  3. ^ Wolf, Matt. "West End Star Jon Jon Briones on His 25-Year Journey in 'Miss Saigon', From Ensemble Member to Engineer" broadway.com, May 7, 2014
  4. ^ Gordon, David. "From Engineering Student to "The Engineer": Jon Jon Briones' Journey With 'Miss Saigon' " theatermania.com, March 19, 2017
  5. ^ "Alistair Brammer, Tamsin Carroll, Hugh Maynard & More Join West End's MISS SAIGON; Full Cast Announced!". November 22, 2013. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  6. ^ "Olivier awards 2015: complete list of nominations". March 9, 2015. Retrieved March 31, 2016.
  7. ^ "Miss Saigon dominates WhatsOnStage awards". BBC. February 15, 2015. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  8. ^ "Final flight for Miss Saigon". cameronmackintosh.com. July 14, 2015. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  9. ^ Gans, Andrew (September 29, 2016). "Additional Casting Announced for Miss Saigon Broadway Revival". Playbill. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  10. ^ Wood, Ximón (April 10, 2018). "TV & Stage Stars Suzy Nakamura and Jon Jon Briones will join Lily Mariye and Wendy Chang/Dwight Stuart Youth Fund as Honorees at East West Players' 52nd Visionary Awards Dinner & Silent Auction on Monday, April 30, 2018 at Hilton Universal City". East West Players. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
  11. ^ Wood, Ximón (June 23, 2014). "Golden Anniversary Visionary Awards Dinner and Silent Auction". East West Players. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
  12. ^ TFCBalitangAmerica (May 2, 2018), Showbiz Tonight: Jon Jon Briones receives Visionary Award by East West Players, retrieved July 22, 2019
  13. ^ Petski, Denise (January 14, 2019). "'Ratched': Sharon Stone, Cynthia Nixon Among 10 Cast In Ryan Murphy's Netflix Series". Deadline. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  14. ^ "Ratched star Jon Jon Briones on his wild role: 'Oh my God, I have to do a lobotomy on my son'". EW. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
  15. ^ "Jon Jon Briones". IMDb. Retrieved October 1, 2021.
  16. ^ Grigware, Don. "BWW Interview: ISA BRIONES Opens Up About NEXT TO NORMAL". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved October 1, 2021.
  17. ^ Milligan, Mercedes (May 21, 2021). "New Trailer & Cast Revealed for 'Trese,' Premiering June 11". Animation Magazine. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  18. ^ Petski, Denise (July 22, 2022). "'Transformers: EarthSpark': Paramount+ Series Sets Voice Cast, Teaser Trailer — Comic-Con". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved July 23, 2022.
  19. ^ Cordero, Rosy; Petski, Denise (November 10, 2021). "'Class of '09': Raúl Castillo, Jake McDorman, Sepideh Moafi, Brian J. Smith Among 7 Cast In FX Limited Series". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
  20. ^ Josh Dela Cruz, Danielle Hope, and Jon Jon Briones Will Star in WATERFALL in Thailand, Broadway World, Retrieved 13 September 2023

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