by Christine Champagne
Gay.com
August 23, 1999

Good news for fans of 'My So-Called Life'. No, the show, which ran on ABC from 1994-95, isn't being resurrected. But one of its stars, Wilson Cruz, who played gay teenager Rickie Vasquez, is returning to television. The 25-year-old actor is joining the cast of 'Party of Five' in the role of Victor, a nanny Charlie (Matthew Fox) hires to help take care of baby Diana and little Owen. Cruz will make his debut on this upcoming season's third episode, airing on October 19.

If you can't wait that long to catch Cruz, you'll be able to see him on the big screen in 'Supernova', which opens October 1. The big-budget sci-fi flick—starring Angela Bassett, James Spader and Lou Diamond Phillips—casts Cruz as a computer engineer aboard a deep space medical ship sent out on a dangerous on a rescue mission.

Not a bad addition to Cruz' already impressive résumé. Over the last few years, the actor has had roles in the films 'All Over Me' (1997) and 'Johns' (1996), made a memorable guest appearance as a transvestite on 'Ally McBeal' and starred in the Los Angeles and Broadway productions of 'Rent' as tranvestite street drummer Angel Shunard.

Clearly, Cruz has plenty to talk about, so Gay.com recently chatted with the actor at a party in Hollywood celebrating Fox's upcoming fall schedule.

Gay.com: First of all, I have to heap praise on you for being in 'Rent'. I am obsessed with that show.

Wilson Cruz: I am obsessed with it, too!

Gay.com: Did you get a chance to get to know your predecessor [Wilson Jermaine Heredia] in the Broadway production?

Cruz: No, I only met him as I was replacing him. He is a sweet man. I loved him.

Gay.com: Was it weird stepping into a role that he won a Tony Award for?

Cruz: Yes! But what made it okay was that they let me do my own thing with it. I didn't feel like I had to copy him. And by not trying to copy him or replicate what he did, I felt like I honored the role and the show and myself.

Gay.com: Being from Brooklyn, it must have been amazing when you actually joined the Broadway cast of the show. Where are you living now?

Cruz: I'm living in Chelsea and West Hollywood. I'm about the gayest man in America.

Gay.com: Now on to 'Party of Five', the show you're here to talk about: I can't believe you're going to be on 'Party of Five'.

Cruz: I can't believe I'm going to be on 'Party of Five'! Do you know what this does for my résumé?

Gay.com: How did you get the role of Victor?

Cruz: They called me up—I guess they had been developing this character in meetings—and they said, 'You're who we had in mind. Would you do it?' And I was like, 'Hell, yeah!'

Gay.com: Is the character gay?

Cruz: We don't know. It's very ambiguous at this point. I think part of the fun is going to be about discovering who he is and what he is.

Gay.com: I understand that 'Party of Five' is going to lighten up this season, and your character is going to help with that.

Cruz: On 'Party of Five', I'll be telling it how it is: "Enough of the whining! Life's not that bad!"

Gay.com: How many episodes of 'Party of Five' will you appear in?

Cruz: I'm committed to thirteen this season, but it will probably be more they tell me.

Gay.com: Well, I hope you're interested in sticking around.

Cruz: Oh, I'm completely committed to it. I love doing television.

Gay.com: Were you a 'Party of Five' fan before you were cast on the show?

Cruz: I was because 'My So-Called Life' and 'Party of Five' premiered the same season. There were a lot of comparisons and for good reason because they were very well-written shows with very talented casts. I had met Neve [Campbell, who plays 'Party of Five's' Julia] a couple of times at functions, and I was aware of the show. But I didn't watch it because I was working. Then, when we were canceled I watched a couple of episodes, and I loved it.

Gay.com: I assume fans of 'My So-Called Life' approach you constantly to tell you how much the show and your portrayal of Rickie meant to them?

Cruz: All the time.

Gay.com: It must feel good to have done work that has affected people so deeply. You're young, but you already have an incredible résumé.

Cruz: The television I've done has been amazing. I did 'My So-Called Life'. I did a really great episode of 'Ally McBeal' that I loved. I'm doing 'Party of Five'. I did a great pilot years ago called 'On Seventh Avenue' that nobody saw because it didn't get picked up, but I loved it. I'm very proud of my television career, and I'm moving into film now. That's exciting, too.

Gay.com: Is it just a coincidence that you've done so much great television, or are you picky about what you do?

Cruz: I'm very, very picky. I said this in the beginning, and I'll say this again, 'I've been poor. I don't have a problem being poor again.' As long as I can look my mother straight in the eye, and she can look me straight in the eye and be proud of what I've done, I'll do it. But I'm not going to do trash. I'm not going to do it. I think I deserve more. I think people I represent as a Latino and as a gay man deserve more from me. I'm a good actor, and I think that I shouldn't waste my talent on things that don't live up to what I can do.

Gay.com: 'NYPD Blue's' Bill Brochtrup is gay and has said that he is happy to play gay characters. How do you feel about being cast in gay roles?

Cruz: The gay and lesbian community is a spectrum of personality, and if all I ever do is play gay roles, that's okay with me because we're all so very different, and every person and every character that I play will be a very different person from who I was before. Just because they're gay doesn't mean that they're similar. Sexuality has so little to do with who we are as people. It's a portion of who we are, but it's not the definition of who we are. My character on 'Party of Five' will be very different from the character I played on 'My So-Called Life' and very different from the character I played in Rent.