Wilson Cruz biography, high resolution photos and videos by Americola 
Wilson Cruz
[edit] Americola's celebrity biographies are provided by AmericolaWiki, a celebrity wiki. You can help contribute to Americola and edit this article.
Wilson Cruz (born December 27, 1973, in Brooklyn, New York, USA) is an openly gay Puerto Rican-American actor. Cruz has in both his acting roles and community work served as a model and mentor to gay youth, especially gay youth of color.
Contents
- 1 Coming out and the move to Hollywood
- 2 Involvement in GLBT community
- 3 Filmography and stage performances
- 3.1 Television
- 3.2 Film
- 3.3 Stage
- 4 External links
|
Coming out and the move to Hollywood
Best known for his role as Enrique "Rickie" Vasquez, the troubled gay teen on the short-lived but popular television series My So-Called Life, Wilson knows first-hand the many struggles and hardships that face young gay, lesbian, and bisexual, (GLBT) people as they struggle to come to terms with their sexuality and the reactions of their families, friends, and society at large.
At 19, Cruz
came out to his parents, first to his mother and then his father. While his mother was initially hurt and shocked, she eventually accepted the news. His father, however, threw him out of the house, and he spent the next few months living in his car and at the homes of friends. Cruz eventually reconciled with his father.
After coming out to his parents, Cruz went to Hollywood to seek work as an openly gay young actor. While many gay and lesbian performers had come out later in their careers, he wanted to see if he could be out from the beginning and still make it as an actor. His strategy paid off in 1994, when he was cast in My So-Called Life. In one episode drawn from his own life, "Rickie" came out to his parents and was violently thrown out of the house.
Following My So-Called Life's cancellation, Cruz went on to play J. Edgar Hoover's servant Joaquin in Oliver Stone's film Nixon and had a small role in the television movie On Seventh Avenue. In 1996, he appeared with David Arquette as Mikey in johns, about the daily (or nightly) struggles of male prostitutes. In 1998, he portrayed Angel in the Broadway production of RENT, and in 2000 played Victor during the final season of Party of Five.
Cruz's other acting credits include the films Joyride (1996), All Over Me (1997), Supernova (2000), and Party Monster (2003); the television film The Perfect Pitch (2002); and guest appearances on the series Great Scott!, Sister, Sister, ER, Ally McBeal, and Noah's Arc. Most recently, Cruz starred as Adrian in the film Ode (2007) based on the novel "Ode to Lata" by Ghalib Shiraz Dhalla.
Involvement in GLBT community
While playing numerous roles on television, film, and the stage, Cruz devotes more and more of his time to GLBT youth. He is especially concerned with GLBT youth of color. Most recently he has volunteered his time as host for the Youth Zone, an online community on
gay.com for GLBT youth. In an interview about the site, he said:
- I am inspired by the people I believe to be the true champions and soldiers of the gay and lesbian movement: youth. Their struggle, their fearlessness, their honesty, their longing and pure, sincere effort to make people understand that they deserve to be loved and that their love deserves to be understood drives me daily to be a better person and to live my life as openly and honestly as I can. It is their efforts that I believe have been the most successful in our movement toward true freedom.
Filmography and stage performances
Television
Film
Stage
