Iyah Mina is a Filipina actress, stand-up comedian, and LGBTQ+ advocate. She made Philippine cinema history in 2018 by becoming the first transgender woman to win the Best Actress award in the country's history.
Career
In 2009, Mina started working as a stand-up comic in Punchline, where she would eventually meet Vice Ganda. Vice Ganda would later on cast Mina as one of his jesters/sidekicks in the late-night comedy talk show Gandang Gabi, Vice!.
In 2018, Mina appeared in the 2018 Cinema One Originals entry Mamu; And a Mother Too, playing an aging transgender sex worker forced to take the responsibility of being a mother to her sister's orphaned transgender daughter, for which she was awarded Best Actor in the Cinema One Originals Film Festival and became the first transgender actor to win such award in the said festival and the first transgender actor to win a Best Actor award in the Philippines.
The following year, Mina appeared in Wagas Presents: Throwback Pag-ibig.
In 2020, she appeared in the iWant miniseries My Single Lady and appeared in the coming-of-age romantic drama The Boy Foretold by the Stars.
In 2024 and 2025, she appeared in the ABS-CBN Studios' game show Rainbow Rumble on Kapamilya Channel, A2Z, All TV and TV5.
Personal life Mina came out to her family as a transgender woman when she was 20 years old while she was still attending college.
Filmography
Television Year Title Role Channel/Streaming platform Notes Source 2019 Wagas: Throwback Pag-ibig Mama Ru GMA News TV 2020 My Single Lady iWantTFC 2021 Love Beneath The Stars Baby R 2022 Sino'ng Manok Mo Herself/Referee PIE Channel 2024; 2025 Rainbow Rumble Herself/Contestant Kapamilya Channel/A2Z/ALLTV/TV5 2025 It's Showtime Herself/Guest Hurado/Performer Kapamilya Channel/A2Z/ALLTV/GMA Network
Film Year Title Role Notes Source 2018 Mamu; And a Mother TooMamu Lead role 2020 The Boy Foretold by the StarsBaby R2021Ayuda BabesPinky2023Here Comes the GroomMama Wendy Supporting role, Official 1st Summer Metro Manila Film Festival entry Third World Romance Inang Reyna Supporting role 2025Flower GirlCameoCall Me Mother Diosdado “Ms. J” Patumbong Supporting role, Official 51st Metro Manila Film Festival entry
Awards and nominations Year Work Award Category Result Source 2018 Mamu; And a Mother Too Cinema One Originals Film Festival Best Actress 2019 FAMAS Awards Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role Gawad Urian Awards Best Actress PMPC Star Awards for Movies New Movie Actor of the Year
References
External links