Tess Paras
Tess (Maritess) Paras is a Filipino-American actress, comedian, producer and writer. She was born in Houston, Texas and grew up in Oak Park, California. She later moved to New York and attended New York University where she graduated magna cum laude. She pursued a career in entertainment doing musical theater all over the country and even on cruise ships. She went to Los Angeles where she does commercials, TV, improv and sketch comedy. Paras also created a YouTube channel "TessTubeBaby" where she writes and produces comedy video shorts. She is friends with Rachel Bloom whom she has collaborated with on several YouTube videos. Paras has been outspoken about the stereotypical roles offered to Asian Americans in Hollywood. She wrote, starred and produced a video parodying this called "Typecast". This was based on a sketch she did for the 2014 CBS Diversity Sketch Comedy Showcase. She is a regular performer at the L.A. Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. In 2015, she was cast in the The CW comedy musical "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" as Jayma Chan, the oldest sibling of the Chan family and sister to Josh Chan. Her first appearance was in the Season One episode "My First Thanksgiving with Josh!".