A big part of yoga for a lot of people is the mental health benefits. Does that apply to jiu-jitsu as well?

Absolutely. Being in New York, you're kind of on guard all the time. You need to blow off some steam, and jiu-jitsu does that, because you're exhausted when you're wrestling, but it also teaches you to slow down. You can't muscle your way through a match. You really have to think and be present, and just take things as they come. That's one of the biggest benefits for me as an actor and a New Yorker—jiu-jitsu slows me down in a good way.

What’s your food regimen like?

My wife and I have been vegan for just over three years now. It was mainly for health at the time. There's cancer on both sides of my family and there's a history of neurodegenerative disease on her side of the family, so we just wanted to tune our bodies and be in the best place possible to have a fighting chance for whatever comes our way. And we found that veganism was that change for us. It's become a huge social and activist issue for us as well.

Was that a difficult transition?

We just cut everything out. I went into this whole swirl, like, "What am I gonna eat?" I previously supplemented my workouts with a lot of meat, protein, stuff like that. Being Filipino, you know, we love our pork. So that first day I just went out and ate a really delicious vegan meal somewhere. And I realized, "Oh, I can do this." We got a whole bunch of vegan cookbooks, and it was difficult at first because it's such a different way to cook. But now it's super easy. We're about 99 percent vegan—we still eat honey—but it's been a good three years.

I've never felt better. I definitely have more energy and I feel lighter. Before I went vegan, when I was doing Aladdin and would eat before the show, there were some meals where my body would just feel terrible. I was so slow, my mental acuity was not quite there, and I was sleepy. And when we changed to vegan, I would still eat a lot before the show so I was full, but I felt completely functional.

Any foods you really miss eating?

Thankfully, sugar is vegan. But, you know, meat is delicious. I miss pepperoni pizza and I definitely miss barbecue. Luckily, today, it's so much easier to get things that are similar-tasting if I really have a craving for junk food. My wife and I are cooking a lot more again now that we’re on the same diet. Cooking together or for each other has been really lovely. We make this heavenly butternut squash pizza with Miyoko's cheese. We make our own sauce, and it's such a great comfort food that we also put in the fridge and eat cold.

So veganism started as a health thing, but it became more about activism for you. How did that happen?

The environment and the corruption of the meat industry specifically have just become more and more difficult to ignore from a consumer's standpoint. I used to say that I would have cheat meals whenever there was an opportunity—like, I used to really want to go to Peter Luger's in Brooklyn and have a steak there. But I think that's changed in the last year-and-a-half. I don't think I'd go now.

I guess Pete Wells would say you’re on the right path.

I guess! He once came to our restaurant when I was working on the Lower East Side, at Back Forty. Being in that kitchen was like working at a theater every night.