Afro-Puerto Rican actor Wilson Cruz—known for his roles as Dr. Hugh Culber on Star Trek: Discovery, and Junito on Noah’s Arc, among others—was named by Time magazine as one of the seventeen Latino Leaders of 2024. Here are excerpts from Solcyré Burga’s “Wilson Cruz Is Still Breaking Barriers—On and Off the Screen” (Time).
Actor Wilson Cruz was only 20 when he started breaking boundaries in Hollywood through his portrayal of Enrique “Rickie” Vasquez, a gay Pennsylvania teen, on the 1994 single-season show My So-Called Life. In taking the role, Cruz, now 50, became the first out gay actor to play an out gay character on prime-time television, sparking dialogue across America and offering a lifeline for people who have long lacked visibility in Hollywood. “I understood that I was giving young people and their families permission to see themselves in me,” Cruz says. “I knew that I wasn’t the only one who was having difficult conversations with his family about his sexuality.” [. . .]
Moving forward with a sense of purpose, Cruz has been intentional about the roles he selects. He starred in Rent, portrayed an HIV+ doctor on the drama series Noah’s Arc, and, since 2017, on Star Trek: Discovery, has played Dr. Hugh Culber, a character he says he made Puerto Rican to show the perseverance of the island even thousands of years into the future, when the show’s plot is set.
Hispanic people make up nearly one-fifth of the U.S. population but account for nearly a quarter of all box-office ticket sales and streaming subscribers, per a McKinsey report. Still, Latinos are largely underrepresented across the entertainment industry, making up less than 5% of leading on-screen, off-screen, and executive roles in U.S. media. [. . .]
For full article, see https://time.com/7012224/wilson-cruz-latino-leaders/
[Photo above by Riker Brothers.]
Afro-Puerto Rican actor Wilson Cruz—known for his roles as Dr. Hugh Culber on Star Trek: Discovery, and Junito on Noah’s Arc, among others—was named by Time magazine as one of the seventeen Latino Leaders of 2024. Here are excerpts from Solcyré Burga’s “Wilson Cruz Is Still Breaking Barriers—On and Off the Screen” (Time). Actor Wilson
