Award Winning Filipino Actor • Writer • Producer • Director
she/her/siya
Actor, producer, director, founder of Origin Stories Productions. Born in MD, raised between DC and Manila, her first professional theatrical production was in Manila in 2000. She has since performed on nearly all of DC’s stages, the Kennedy Center, and at Lincoln Center in NYC.
Nominated for multiple Helen Hayes Awards, in 2019 she earned the Outstanding Lead Performer in a Play Award for her work in THE EVENTS, playing the sole survivor of a mass shooting. To date, she is the first and only Filipino to have received the distinction. Washingtonian Magazine proclaimed her one of "DC's 10 Biggest Theater Stars.”
Regina wrote, directed, and produced her first feature documentary film, FAITH HEALERS, which world premiered at the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood as an official selection of the Manila International Film Festival in March 2025. FAITH HEALERS was so well recieved at the MIFF that she was given a Trailblazer Award for documenting Filipino American history. FAITH HEALERS has been an official selection in 13 film festivals in 2025, won the Audience Choice AWARD at the SOHO International Film Festival and from Richmond Film Network Indie Fest, Best Documentary from the Washington DC International Cinema Awards, and Regina was nominated for Best New Filmmaker by the LA Independent Women In Film Awards.
Regina is an artist advocate for Filipino and LGBTQ culture and is deeply committed to intersectional solidarity. Fluent in both English and Tagalog, she founded Origin Stories to create Filipino forward art and has multiple film and TV series projects in development. Her work is dedicated to ensuring marginalized communities, stories, and histories are uplifted and honored.
Regina was a keynote speaker at the 2021 Solidarity Against Asian Hate on the National Mall. Watch her rallying speech and follow @solidarityagainstasianhate on Instagram.
Regina Becomes the First Filipin to Win Best Lead Performer Helen Hayes Award
Watch Regina’s Helen Hayes Award acceptance speech. In 2019, she won the HHA for Outstanding Lead Performer in a Play for her work in THE EVENTS at Theater Alliance. She used her 2 minutes to call the community to action while giving thanks to her Filipino family.
Reels
“…Regina Aquino's Meiko… truly stands out in this performance. Meiko's descent from self-assuredness to guilt and doubt is heartbreaking to watch, and even Aquino's background moments (such as when she decides to eat one of the scones Carina brings to a meeting) are genuinely funny and enjoyable to watch.”
– BWW Review of EUREKA DAY
“Jen (is) played by the brilliantly changeable Regina Aquino who transforms from a sobbing mess to bossy know-it-all in a single beat”