Star Trek: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Hugh Culber

Breaking ground on television is familiar territory for Wilson Cruz; the Discovery role was not the first of firsts for queer representation for the actor. At the very beginning of his career, Cruz played Enrique 'Rickie' Vasquez in the now classic, but short-lived teen drama My So-Called Life from 1994-1995 — becoming the first openly gay actor to play an openly gay character on American network TV. It turns out that Rickie Vasquez was as much a lifeline for Cruz as it was for countless LGBTQIA+ viewers.

In circumstances that are sadly familiar to many in the LGBTQIA+ community, real life unfortunately imitated art for Cruz at the time. He had been kicked out of home by his dad and forced to live in his car after coming out as gay, not long before his character on My So-Called Life went through a similar experience.

However, as Cruz tells it in his interview with BUILD, the filming process was cathartic and, after the episode in which Rickie is kicked out of home had aired, he and his father were able to begin speaking again. So important is the pioneering character for Cruz that he noted, "I am on Star Trek: Discovery […] and I might do many things after, but I will always be Rickie Vasquez".