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LOS ANGELES, USA – Even though Sam Morelos is only 19, she has been a regular but refreshing presence at Filipino-American events in Southern California for quite some time now.
So, it’s almost unexpected — but exciting — to read Sam being hailed by a critic as making a “major star-making turn.” Our dear Sam?
That’s how The Guardian’s Benjamin Lee praised the Fil-Am in her first lead role in Hulu’s original movie, Summer of 69: “…Morelos is the real find. She’s featured in Netflix spin-off That ’90s Show before but this is a major star-making turn, for once an actual teenager playing a teenager and bringing all of the palpable unsureness and anxiety that comes with that.”
Collider’s Nate Richard agreed: “(Chloe) Fineman…gets to share some lovely chemistry with her young co-star Sam Morelos, who makes for a delightful heroine. Morelos matches Fineman’s comedic timing with ease and confidence.”
It’s a well-deserved breakthrough for Sam, who has been honing her performing talent since she was a young girl.
Born in Los Angeles, the actress is the younger child of Francis and Jennifer (nee Esclamado), both immigrants from the Philippines. She has a brother, Francis, who just turned 21.
At only six years old, Sam began performing. She bagged her first series regular role, Nikki Velasco, in Netflix’s That ’90s Show, a sequel to That ’70s Show. The series ran for two seasons.
The first generation Fil-Am sang with the Filipino American Symphony Orchestra, the first and only symphony orchestra outside of the Philippines, at the Walt Disney Concert Hall; acted in plays and directed her first short, The Point.
In the coming-of-age movie, Summer of 69, a lot hangs on Sam’s shoulders. She plays Abby Flores, a high school senior and a video game streamer who pines for hunky Max Warren (Matt Cornett).
Sam Morelos and Chloe Fineman in a scene of ‘Summer of 69.’ All movie stllls from HuluWhen Abby learns that Max is available and has a favorite sexual position, she enlists exotic dancer Santa Monica (Saturday Night Live regular Chloe Fineman) to “educate” her and help her seduce him.
What follows is a comedy of unexpected friendship and learning self-confidence and acceptance. Sam captures the awkwardness of a loner but with natural charm and humor.
Summer of 69, which premiered at the 2025 South by Southwest Film and TV Festival, is the feature directing debut of Jillian Bell, who wrote for Saturday Night Live and is also an actress and a comedian. The film, which is more than just a teen comedy, also recently began streaming on Hulu.
Fil-Am actors play Abby’s family — Emy Coligado and Scott Connors (parents), Ellie Santos (young Abby), Alina Santos (tween Abby), and Elle Amyra (lola).
Sam will be seen next in Josh Boone’s drama, Regretting You, which stars Dave Franco, McKenna Grace, and Will Fitzgerald.
The following excerpts from Rappler’s interview with Sam were edited for brevity and clarity.
This is your first lead starring role. How did you land the role of Abby? And walk us through the exact moment when you learned you got the part.
I auditioned for Abby on Zoom because that’s the industry [practice] now. I had three Zooms. The initial one was with the casting director, one with Jillian and one with Jillian and Chloe for the camera.
And it was just such a lovely experience. Jillian asked me to improv in my second audition and that was the most daunting, terrifying thing to do in front of one of the funniest people in the world. But I made it through.
And the moment that I learned (I got the role), it was, oh my gosh! I remember exactly where I was. It was Memorial Day. I was getting ready for my very first dress rehearsal of this Shakespeare play that I was in, Much Ado About Nothing.
It’s like free Shakespeare in the Park which was awesome. I got the call from my team first but then they’re all like, but Jillian wants to call you, too, so you have to pretend that you don’t know.
So Jillian called me like an hour later. Our first dress rehearsal was a potluck and I was picking up lumpia from my dad’s friend’s restaurant. And I was literally munching on lumpia from my passenger seat.
Jillian called me and I cried and I screamed. I was like, oh my God, are you really serious?
Sam Morelos as Abby gets to know the world of strippers and adult clubs.In what ways do you relate to the story of Summer of 69 and Abby’s path towards self-confidence, acceptance and adulthood?
I’m still on that path right now. When I shot the movie, I was only a year out of graduating from high school. So I was basically feeling being a new adult and trying to figure out who I am and wanting friends.
It feels very fresh and it continues to feel really fresh in college, too. I relate to Abby so much. Just like Summer of 69 in general, you want to take your time.
You have to allow yourself to be on your own journey and your own path and not compare your timeline with anyone else’s. And Abby’s journey to self-confidence is one that I’m constantly learning from.
I’ve learned a lot from being Abby and on that set of being the best version of myself is when I am the most confident in my own skin.
You are only 19. Was it an eye-opening experience for you to play Abby who gets to know the world of strippers, adult clubs, and certain sexual terms?
Yes, it was. I learned a lot. That was actually my first time in a strip club. It was a real strip club. Diamond Dolls is actually the local strip club of Syracuse (New York).
A lot of the featured dancers worked at Diamond Dolls. They just happened to also be in our movie, which was amazing. I learned a lot. I learned that they do strip. I didn’t even know that.
I thought they just danced. But it was really fun. It was a lovely time and a safe space to learn and ask all these questions. I’m like, oh my God, what is this? What do you mean by a rabbit? What is that?
What were your worries or anxieties in preparing for the club scene? It all looked spontaneous, but did you have a choreographer? How did you prepare for that scene?
I did have a choreographer, the brilliant and incredible Travis Wall. He is just an amazing choreographer and dancer. He was on So You Think You Can Dance. He’s so great and such a light to be around.
Jillian helped choreograph that scene, too. She had some ideas. And all of us collaborated together on what the sequence would be like, what dance moves I wanted to do. We really pulled that together.
Chloe Fineman as Santa Monica finds an unlikely ally in Sam Morelos’ Abby in ‘Summer of 69.’It was almost miraculous that it came together and that it happened because I got COVID during the week we shot in the strip club. So I was out of commission for a week. And I couldn’t get back.
Obviously, I couldn’t go back to set until I tested negative. But that also meant that I didn’t get a lot of rehearsal time. We created that whole thing in a lunch hour and the next day, we shot it.
Travis was just yelling the moves at me. It was so nerve-wracking, especially to be doing a purposefully bad dance in front of a bunch of extras. But it was awesome to know that there was a support system and a group of people who were cheering me on behind the monitor.
Matt (Cornett) wasn’t working that day. He came out just to see the dance. My boyfriend was there the entire time. He came out to watch the dance.
Everyone was so supportive. And I really felt like my village supported me because I was so nervous. We barely had time to rehearse and prepare but we pulled that together. We did it.
Did you have a chemistry read with Chloe Fineman who plays Santa Monica? And how did you bond?
We did have a chemistry read. It was on my last audition. It was a Zoom, of course. But the second we got on, it was like, yeah, this dynamic works. This is good.
What was your own high school experience like?
Abby and I are both awkward but in different ways because she tended to take up less space and make herself small and didn’t really interact with people. When I feel awkward, I would overcompensate, over socialize, be overly bubbly, and things like that.
But at the end of the day, both Abby and I wouldn’t talk to people outside of school, like I didn’t text any of my friends. I didn’t hang out with anyone outside of school.
So my own high school experience was a little lonely, too. Because I was afraid of hanging out. I was afraid of putting myself out there and really making connections with people.
But I also did have a great high school experience because I went to a lovely school called California School of the Arts (San Gabriel Valley, California). It’s this performing arts school where I really got to grow, be around art and create things. It was a really lovely environment to be in.
Sam Morelos (seated left) with the cast of ‘That ’90s Show.’ Photo courtesy of ‘That ’90s Show’In what ways does Emy Coligado, who plays your mother in the movie, remind you of your own mother (Jennifer Morelos)?
Well, Emy asked me. She’s like, what does your mom call you? I watched the movie again last night and I love how Emy tells me, okay, ingat, anak. Okay, mahal. Like, don’t open the door – stranger danger.
And I’m like, yeah, that’s my mom. That is 100,000 percent my mother. My mom wasn’t there when I was filming in Syracuse. I was in upstate New York for a month.
But having Emy around was very much like having a maternal figure. It was nice to be around other Filipino people because in upstate New York, I was the only Filipino person other than the people in the cast. So it was nice to have someone like Emy. – Rappler.com
