Star Trek fans went crazy when we found out that Captain Jean Luc Picard from Star Trek the Next Generation would be returning to screens. We even went crazier when we found out that actor and activist Jonathan Del Arco’s would be returning, 27 years after his first appearance as Hugh, an iconic fan favorite from Star Trek: The Next Generation. Television audiences most recently saw him as Dr. Fernando Morales, a role that spanned ten years over the course of two series The Closer and Major Crimes on TNT. Other memorable appearances on film and television include Nip/Tuck, The Sopranos, 24, Crossing Jordan, Huff, Star Trek: Voyager, Mommies, The Wonder Years, Blossom, Boy Meets World, Miami Vice, NCIS, and The Crazy Ones with Robin Williams.
Foregoing college at 18 he joined the company of the Broadway hit Torch Song Trilogy and toured the country along with Golden Girls' Estelle Getty. Many other Broadway and off Broadway plays followed before Del Arco settled in Los Angeles to pursue work on television and film.
As a passionate activist on behalf of LGBT rights, immigrant's rights, anti-bullying efforts, and the environment, he served as a campaign surrogate for President Barack Obama and Sec. Hillary Clinton and is a sought after public speaker. He has shared his coming out story and childhood as an immigrant and survivor of bullying and discrimination at the first pride event at FBI Headquarters, the 2012 Democratic Convention, The Human Rights Campaign, and throughout corporate America.
We chatted with Jonathan about his experience growing up in the US as an immigrant from Uruguay, his friendship with Estelle Getty, missing a stage cue, life during the AIDS epidemic, the LGBTQ community in Star Trek, his crush on Captain Kirk, and why it's imperative for the LGBTQ community to become politically involved.