I think if I hadn’t chosen to pursue acting I would’ve been a teacher. I’ve had the chance to think about that a lot! Ha-Ha. If you weren’t acting, what else would you pursue instead? It’s a life lesson: YOU ARE ENOUGH! It’s powerful and when you understand that you will unleash a creative force inside of you that you didn’t even know you had. I’ve always been a bit of a risk taker, and I’ve grown to trust my instincts much more. I think when I was younger, I didn’t quite understand that I was enough: that my life experience, my human experience, was enough to inform the humanity of the character. Oh, I think, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve grown more trusting of myself and my instrument. How has acting changed for you as you’ve matured? ![]() Your acting career started at an early age. That’s where the work still needs to be done. Now, if we can only get the film industry and those studios to get the message. I have to tip my proverbial hat to Shonda Rhimes and Ryan Murphy, who really understood this and provided (and continue to provide) models for how to do it well and successfully. I took a couple of years off to work at GLAAD, specifically to work on this issue, and I really believe the conversations we had with networks and content creators, at that time, allowed them to see, not only how important inclusivity and visibility are for the community and the powerful storytelling opportunities for them, but also alerting them to the money they were leaving on the table by NOT being more inclusive. I think the biggest changes I’ve seen in terms of LGBTQ visibility have been on television. What changes have you seen within the industry regarding the inclusion of actors/actresses of color and of the LGBTQ+ community? I’ve always had a steeper hill to climb, in the respect. It’s also been a challenge to convince content creators that the characters they envisioned don’t necessarily have to be a white straight CIS gendered men and giving them a good enough reason, in my audition, to change their minds. So much of my experience has been finding the good roles that were open to me or, in my case, finding the roles that, with some collaboration, I could make better or more accurate. I think the biggest challenge throughout my career has been finding work in an industry that, up until recently, didn’t acknowledge the lack of opportunities for LGBTQ actors of color. What challenges have you face being both a Latinx and openly gay actor? That said, there is a cost to taking it all on and this season, we get a very real sense of that. Hugh has such a sense of duty to everyone in his life, from his patients to his family, and he finds so much fulfillment and happiness in showing up for all of them in meaningful ways. ![]() Star Trek and Discovery, specifically, afford every member of this cast to explore every aspect of their character’s lives, from their occupations and duties on the ship to their interpersonal relationships, in my case, my relationship to my life partner and the young people we’ve taken under our wing, allows for a more three-dimensional approach to this work. There’s so much about Hugh Culber that is different from so many other roles I’ve played. Has anything about your role as Hugh Culber been different from other roles of your recent past?
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