MASALAThousands of miles across the Pacific Ocean, a
warm and enthusiastic “Hi!” from 14-year-old Siena
Agudong breaks the silence on the other end of the
phone connection, like a wave crashing on the shore-
line. Agudong is calling from her home in Kauai,
where she was born. “Growing up in Hawaii is every-
thing you dream it to be,” says Agudong, who splits
her time between the island and Los Angeles so she
can pursue acting.
The Filipina American actress is best known for
starring in Nickelodeon shows Nicky, Ricky, Dicky &
Dawn and Star Falls. She had her breakout as the chub-
by-cheeked Lulu Parker on ABC’s Killer Women. But
now she’s got the title role of Nicole (who prefers to go
by “Nick”) on Netflix’s family sitcom No Good Nick. It’s a
long way from just eight years earlier, when she was fol-
lowing in her older sister Sydney’s footsteps playing an
Oompa Loompa in a Hawaii Children’s Theatre produc-
tion of Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka.
When Agudong got her first taste of performing in
front of a large audience, she immediately knew it was
something she wanted to do again. “I used to create skits
for my family,” says Agudong. “I remember we would
make up fake situations, and we’d put on a play. I just
knew I wanted to do it.”
Agudong’s latest role on No Good Nick might sur-
prise viewers expecting typical silly sitcom scenarios.
The show, which dropped last April, follows the mis-
adventures of the Thompsons, whose humdrum
suburban lives are interrupted by the mysterious arrival
of a teenage con artist named Nick. The main char-
acter, a supposed orphan, is old enough to know the
implications of her illegal actions ... right? “Nick is very
layered,” says Agudong. “She loves her family, and she
gets conflicted a lot. There’s a sarcastic, witty, crazy side
to her that’s just like a kid, but she’s very mature as well.
She does the wrong things, but for the right reasons.”
While she’s grateful to have had her start on Nickel-
odeon, Agudong says she feels honored to be working
with Netflix. “Both are great in different ways. Nickel-
odeon is good to get you going, and it’s a great learning
experience,” says Agudong. “With Netflix, it really feels
real. It’s still weird to me that I grew up watching Net-
flix, and whoa, now I’m on it!”
To prepare for playing a grifter, Agudong did exten-
sive research to educate herself on the various cons,
such as the glim dropper and the money-box scheme,
that serve as the titles and themes for each episode. She
lets out a bubbly laugh as she recalls how motivated she
was to land the role. “I wanted it so badly that I wrote
in my notes on my phone, ‘I am Nicole. I am Nicole. I
am Nicole. I am Nicole.’ Over and over again, until I
adopted it as my name temporarily,” Agudong says. “I
would think of myself as and respond to that name.”
But it hasn’t always been sunny skies and balmy
weather. The competition that comes with being in a
creative industry can be tough to handle. “You go on
thousands of auditions, and you invest your whole heart
into it,” says Agudong. “Then if you don’t ever get it, it
kinda hits you: Am I not good enough?”
Agudong says she channels all of her energy into each
performance, and she’s working on not taking every
decision to heart. “I wish I would have realized earlier
that everything happens for a reason. I’m still taking
that in right now,” she says.
Although the unpredictable nature of acting can
be overwhelming, Agudong says that Jim Klock, who
played her character’s father in the film Alex & Me and
who has become her mentor, taught her how to better
embrace change. “He told me something I’ll never for-
get,” says Agudong. “Every single time before a scene, he
would say, ‘All I wanna do is surprise myself.’ Whatever
happens, and whatever you take in from the other actor,
don’t plan things. Just be in it.” CM