"We need to be able to be strong because we have to be resilient. It's a blend of strength and empathy that Cruz wishes we saw more of in the Trump administration. Culber, that involves stepping into a leadership role and caring for the crew, especially in moments of crisis. But we never gave them the ability to do that."įor Dr. When in reality that person could be the person who invents or discovers the cure for cancer. Whereas someone who should be is a person of color and doesn't have the same opportunities and is relegated to menial work because that's what they have been assigned to because of their caste. That's not what their personality is suited strongly for. The most powerful part of that book for me was, I mean, all of it was powerful, but the weird thing that stuck with me the most was when she speaks about how caste forces us to miscast everyone.so people who feel like they should be the president of the United States because of their racial makeup and their family lineage and class when really they shouldn't be right. "And so I read something like Caste and it breaks my heart to know that we've built an entire society out of the fallacy that some people are worth less than others. "Reading Caste literally changed my perspective in terms of how I look at how we're governing and living our lives right now," he insists of the Isabel Wilkerson tome. He was involved in the social justice protests around Black Lives Matter and also took it upon himself to be better able to speak to the issues by reading and listening. In fact, 2020 has been an education for Cruz. And when you spend nine months out of the year trying to imagine that world."Īfter spending all day in that world, Cruz says, "You leave work wanting to figure out ways to make our world a bit closer to that one. And he was allowed to do that with no blockages in education or opportunities. He got to be everything he could possibly be. Because in order for any of us to play these roles as people of color on this show, we have to imagine who we would be and what our lives would be if we were allowed to live up to our potential because we aren't dealing with all of the 'isms' that are obstacles in our lives. "I have to tell you - and it's going to sound corny - it's about how Star Trek makes me look at the world. The Black, gay, Latinx activist can't help but compare the Star Trek: Discovery universe, 1,000 years in the future, with America today. All that queerness leads to shorthand on set for the queer actor and a truly transformative series for fans. His character on My So-Called Life (1994) went through an almost-identical storyline.Īttached to play Angel in a television mini series based on the Broadway musical Rent, with Neil Patrick Harris as Mark Cohen, Rikki Lee Travolta as Roger Davis, and singer Shakira as Mimi, but the rights were pulled in order for Chris Columbus to make a film adaptation using much of the original Broadway cast including Wilson Jermaine Heredia in the role of Angel.Fifty years after Gene Roddenberry first wanted to have a gay character (but had already risked cancellation with an interracial kiss), his full vision of humanity is finally on screen. He was awarded the 1998 Los Angeles Stage Alliance Ovation Award for Featured Actor in a Musical for "Rent" in a Center Theatre Group production at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, California.įilmed a Public Service Announcement to raise awareness for the issue of homelessness among gay teens in which he revealed that he was kicked out of his house as a teen when he told his family that he was gay. He was awarded the 1997 Drama Logue Award for Performance for "Rent" in the Center Theatre Group production at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, California.
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