Jon Huertas
Introduction '''Jonathan William Scott Hofstedt''' (born October 23, 1969) is an American actor. Known professionally as '''Jon Huertas''', he is best known for his role as witch hunter Brad Alcerro in ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch'', Sergeant Antonio 'Poke' Espera in HBO's ''Generation Kill'', Joe Negroni in the film ''Why Do Fools Fall in Love'', homicide detective Javier Esposito in ''Castle'' and Miguel Rivas in ''This Is Us''.
Early life Huertas was born in New York City, New York, to a Puerto Rican father and a white mother. He was raised by his grandparents. By 10 years of age, he began taking part in school plays, which was his first inspiration to pursue acting. Huertas graduated John Handley High School in Winchester, VA, in 1987 at the age of 17.After spending a year attending college, he enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1987 and served for 8 years as an aircraft nuclear/conventional weapons specialist. He participated in Operation Just Cause and Operation Desert Storm.
Career Huertas's acting career started in 1993 when he played an uncredited part in ''The Webbers''.In 1998, Huertas portrayed Joe Negroni in the romantic drama ''Why Do Fools Fall in Love'' alongside such stars as Halle Berry, Paul Mazursky, and Ben Vereen. In 1999, he appeared in two films: the horror movie ''Cold Hearts'' and the action movie ''Stealth Fighter''. In the 2000s, he appeared in many films, but his biggest role was in television in 2008 as Sergeant Espera in HBO's miniseries ''Generation Kill'' about the 2003 invasion of Iraq.From 1998 to 1999, Huertas played the role of Antonio in the television series ''Moesha''. From 1999 to 2000, he played Brad, a witch hunter, in ''Sabrina, the Teenage Witch''. From 2009 to 2016, Huertas starred in the role of Detective Esposito in ABC's police procedural ''Castle''. In 2012, Huertas and his ''Castle'' co-star Stana Katic received the award for Performance in a Drama Episode at the 16th Annual PRISM Awards.Huertas was elected to serve a one-year term, beginning September 25, 2010, as an alternate member of the National Board of Directors and as a member of the Hollywood Division Board of Directors of the Screen Actors Guild.In June 2011, Huertas made his debut music video single called "Sex Is the Word".Huertas joined the cast of This Is Us in 2016 and has been a part of the series since its first season. In an interview with  Tell-Tale TV, Huertas said he didn't know at first that his character Miguel on This Is Us would be aged, or that he'd wind up married to Mandy Moore's character, Rebecca.In October 2019, Huertas appeared on ''The Rookie''. He played as Alejandro Mejia/Cesar Ojeda in the episode "The Bet" and he reunites with former co-stars from ''Castle'', Nathan Fillion and Seamus Dever, as part of ABC's Cast from the Past Week.
Personal life Huertas married his long-term girlfriend, Nicole Bordges, in Tulum, Mexico, on May 4, 2014.
Filmography ===Film=== Year Title Role Notes1996 ''Executive Decision''  Sammy, Terrorist  ''South Bureau Homicide''  Officer #2 1998 ''Why Do Fools Fall in Love?'' Joe Negroni  1999 ''Cold Hearts'' Darius  ''Stealth Fighter''   Lt. Bradley Elias2000 ''Buddy Boy'' Omar  ''Auggie Rose''  Paramedic #1 ''Picking Up the Pieces''  Paulo Credited as John Huertas ''A Family in Crisis: The Elian Gonzales Story''  Rafael  2001 ''Green Diggity Dog''  Tim Porter  2002 ''Bug''  Mitchell ''Borderline'' Ciro Ruiz 2003 ''El Gusano''   Dan  2005 ''Induction'' Rico Rodriguez  2006  ''The Yardsale''  Chuy  ''Right at Your Door''   Rick  ''Hot Tamale''  Alex  2007 ''The Insatiable''  Javier  ''Making it Legal''  Mike Carlton  ''Believers''   Victor  2008 ''The Objective'' Sergeant Vincent Degetau  2011 ''Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2'' Alberto  2012 ''Stash House'' Ray Jaffe 2014 ''Reparation'' Jerome Keller 2017 ''Altered Perception'' Andrew 2019 ''Imprisoned'' Diaz 2020 ''Initiation'' Officer Rico Martinez===Television=== Year Title Role Notes 1993 ''The Webbers'' Pimp - Uncredited 1 episode 1995 ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' Peter Manguson 1 episode 1997 ''JAG'' Cayuga Helmsman and Ramirez 2 episodes 1998 ''Nash Bridges''   Hustler 1 episode ''Moesha''    Antonio 8 episodes1999  ''St. Michael's Crossing''    ''Undressed''   Evan 6 episodes ''Time of Your Life'' Unknown 1 episode ''Sabrina, the Teenage Witch''  Brad Alcerro 12 episodes 2000 ''Touched by an Angel''  Warren 1 episode 2001 ''Resurrection Blvd.'' Unknown 1 episode 2002 ''NYPD Blue''  Juan Episode: "Less is Morte" ''The Shield'' Robbie Villanueva 2 episodes 2004 ''The Division'' Juan 1 episode ''The Joe Schmo Show'' T.J. "The Playah" 9 episodes ''Crossing Jordan''  Manuel Rios 1 episode 2005 ''Without a Trace''    Luis Alvarez 1 episode ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' Psych Tech Leon Madera 1 episode ''Cold Case''  Carlos 1 episode 2006 ''Invasion''  National Guardsman 1 episode 2007 ''Prison Break'' DeJesus 1 episode 2008 ''Generation Kill'' Sergeant Antonio "Poke" Espera Miniseries; 7 episides ''Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles'' Trevor 1 episode ''NCIS'' Sergeant Jack Kale 2 episodes 2009 ''Dark Blue'' Chavez 1 episode 2009–2016 ''Castle'' Javier Esposito Main role; 173 episodes 2012 ''Chelsea Lately'' Javier Esposito in ''Castle'' 1 episode 2016–2019 ''Elementary'' Halcon 3 episodes 2016 ''Con Man'' Diego Alfonso 2 episodes 2016–2022 ''This Is Us'' Miguel Rivas; Director 2 episodes  Recurring (season 1); Main role (season 2–6) 2019; 2022-2023  ''The Rookie''Alejandro Mejia/Cesar Ojeda; Director 2 episodes  1 episode  2023   ''The Rookie: Feds''  N/A Director; 1 episode  2023   ''The Company You Keep''  N/A Director; 1 episode
See also *List of Puerto Ricans
References
External links *** Jon Huertas at TV Guide