Isa Briones on viral Hiligaynon scene, Filipino pride in HBO Max’s ‘The Pitt’

FILIPINO-AMERICAN ACTRESS ISA BRIONES is earning attention for her performance as Dr. Trinity Santos in HBO Max’s megahit medical drama “The Pitt,” with one of her scenes particularly striking a chord with Filipino audiences worldwide.

In one episode, her character sings a lullaby in Hiligaynon to comfort an abandoned baby, a heart-tugging moment that quickly made the rounds online.

“I was so happy with the reaction to it, and it made my dad really proud,” Isa, daughter of Broadway and West End actor Jon Jon Briones, said in an exclusive interview with The Philippine STAR.

“He was like, ‘Oh my God, everyone’s reaching out to me and now the Philippines really knows what you’re doing on the show.’ It’s exciting.”

Interestingly, the scene stemmed from an idea raised during production, which Isa then helped shape.

“Our writer and showrunner (R. Scott Gemmill) e-mailed me leading up to that episode and he was like, ‘We have this idea for Santos to sing a lullaby to the baby because we know you sing,’” she recalled. “And we were thinking it could be a Filipino lullaby. So that feels right.”

From there, she turned to her father for input on what song to use.

“I got to then ask my dad, ‘What do you think I should sing?’ And we talked about it for a while and he had a lot of ideas,” she said.

“Finally, he was like, ‘Wait, I have the perfect one,’ because of the context of the child being left there by the mother. So, it just worked so well.”

Isa also supported the creative choice to leave the song unsubtitled, allowing viewers to engage with it more actively.

“I love that they didn’t put subtitles because I asked them, ‘Is that okay?’ And they were like, ‘We’re thinking we would.’ I was like, ‘Honestly, it’s kind of cooler if you don’t,’ because it makes the audience go, ‘What is she singing?’ and invites the audience to look it up and engage with it further.”

She noticed that the scene let audiences from different backgrounds to connect with a distinctly Filipino element.

“For Filipinos… Tagalog speakers would be like, ‘Oh, wait, this isn’t Tagalog.’ And then for everyone else to be like, ‘Oh my God, she’s singing…’ It’s a cool kind of process of inviting all audiences into a specific Filipino cultural moment. I’m really happy with how it came out.”

Off camera, the scene also left quite an impression on her.

“Those babies are awesome, and the one that you saw actually did stop crying when I started singing to her. It was really, really sweet,” she recalled.

Pinoy representation, visibility

Other than that viral moment, Isa reflected on what it means to be part of a globally successful series, which revolves around the high-pressure lives of healthcare workers at the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital, also known as The Pitt.

The show, topbilled and executive-produced by Noah Wyle, has been highly acclaimed since its 2025 premiere, with the 2026 Golden Globe for Best Drama as one of the more recent accolades.

“It’s really cool. I found myself feeling, oh, I don’t know if I’ve dreamed of this before,” she told The STAR.

“I think there’s something about having an immigrant mindset from my dad and seeing the work that he put in and how for so long, it’s like you can put in so much work and still think, ‘Okay, I’m Filipina, that’s how we’re gonna be. I’m not gonna reach a place of big, crazy success. As long as I can work and pay the bills, that’s the goal,’” she said.

But being part of a mainstream show now has challenged that mindset.

“To see like, ‘Oh wow, we can be in mainstream media and we belong there,’ is really affecting,” she said.

At the same time, Isa acknowledged the nuances of Filipino representation.

“Obviously, I’m just a small part of it. I’m very white-passing Filipino, so that’s just one part of it. Because we also have Amielyn and Kristin, who are so incredible,” she said, pointing out the other Filipino actors in the series — Amielynn Abellera as Nurse Perlah Alawi and Kristin Villanueva as Nurse Princess Dela Cruz.

She observed how uncommon it is to see several Filipinos in one show.

“Getting to see them in the first episode of Season 1, where they speak Tagalog in the first five minutes and I was just like, ah, when have I ever seen that? So thank God, it’s really amazing, that the three of us can be on the show together,” she noted.

“In Hollywood, sometimes diversity can feel like it’s just a check on a box. But to be on a show with multiple Filipinos? That’s so rare to look around and be like, ‘Oh, there’s multiple of us.’ There wasn’t one slot.”

After all, for her, representation also means presenting “diversity” within the Filipino identity itself.

“We also get to show the spectrum that is being Asian, that is being Filipino,” she said. “You can look like me and you can look like Kristin or Amielyn. There’s no one version of what it means to be Asian and to be proud of that.

“So, it’s really exciting to get to show that on a much bigger scale than what we have seen before, especially in a medical show.”

Goals behind the camera

Isa feels a strong sense of pride and responsbility in portraying Filipinos on screen. In fact, according to reports, she specifically advocated for a Pinoy surname for her character.

“It’s a big responsibility because I think sometimes I would feel guilty,” she said. “Because I’m so proud to be Filipino and I’m so proud to get to represent but also like (again), I’m a very white-looking Filipino, so it’s like, how much progress is that?

“So, we need to see more. There’s so much more than this.”

She hopes to take on roles outside of acting to help push and tell more Filipino-oriented stories.

“That’s why I really hope in the future to get to be a part of things more behind the scenes as well, to be producing and writing and directing things,” Issa expressed.

“That’s where the real change happens — when we’re behind the camera as well.

“Because you can put as many diverse faces in front as you want, but if the people telling the stories are not diverse, that’s not really changing anything.”

Seasons 1 and 2 of “The Pitt” are now airing on HBO Max with finale episode arriving on April 17.