Wilson Cruz made his debut on television playing Rickie Vasquez on My So-Called Life in 1994 and has been acting continually ever since. But there was one thing he'd been unable to do in all his years as an actor. Thirty years later, the Puerto-Rican actor was given the opportunity in an episode of Star Trek: Discovery's final season.
In an interview with Trekmovie, Cruz revealed that he'd never had been allowed to perform a scene in his native language, which is Spanish. Discovery gave him that when Cruz's Dr. Hugh Culber had a conversation with a holographic version of his grandmother. It came after Culber hosted the Trill symbiont, Jinaal, in an effort to lead Captain Burnham and Book to the next clue in the hunt for the Progenitors' technology.
"That creating that relationship, building that relationship, so and getting to do a scene in Spanish with my grandmother, and honoring our grandmothers. You know, doing a scene in Spanish–I had never in my life, in my career, been allowed to do a scene in my native language. So that was really exciting and satisfying to do. Look, I have chills. [holds up his arm]"Wilson Cruz
Dr. Culber was struggling to make sense of everything he felt after that joining and reached out to his grandmother for guidance in "Whistlespeak," the sixth episode of the season. It's truly a beautiful scene and shows yet another side of the enigmatic Dr. Hugh Culber who had really been put through the wringer during the series' five seasons.
Cruz has spoken about how he'd like to make an appearance on the upcoming series, Starfleet Academy, and hopefully, the series will open the door for his character and perhaps even bring in more of his language and culture. I loved Culber's journey over the entirety of the series, especially after being brought back from the dead after Ash Tyler killed him, and I'm hoping to see what he can bring to a new series as Dr. Culber.