Jon Huertas gives ensembles a convincing working life beyond their leads. We value the credibility he brings to military and long-running supporting roles, with Generation Kill the strongest place to begin.
Fi1m perspective
Among the boredom and banter of Generation Kill (2008), Jon Huertas's Antonio Espera feels like a Marine with a job to do. The part makes good use of his credibility in a military ensemble. We were drawn in by the ordinary detail and the men's confusion, even when the military language had us working to keep up. David Simon and Ed Burns make room for that everyday experience, and Huertas is well suited to it.
Earlier work included Joe Negroni in Why Do Fools Fall in Love (1998), before Generation Kill gave him his breakthrough. His own military experience informed Espera, and he later helped make Javier Esposito a veteran in Castle (2009). That is a practical contribution to a character: it supplies a life outside the cases. The long-running homicide detective role also put his steadiness to a different use, alongside Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic in a series built around their partnership.
Castle is agreeable company, but it also shows the limits of what a reliable supporting actor can achieve. Fillion and Katic are the principal reason to watch, and the cases remain predictable even when the company is good. Huertas belongs comfortably in that company; he cannot make the plotting more plausible simply by looking at home in the workplace. The pleasure here is in returning to familiar people, with modest expectations of the detective work.
Miguel Rivas in This Is Us (2016) offered another long commitment, with a character whose story spans decades. Moving from recurring to main cast gave Huertas more room, and he contributed personal story elements to the writers' room as well as directing episodes. His directing work has extended to The Rookie and Tracker, while he continues to act. For the clearest introduction to what he offers an ensemble, start with Generation Kill; allow a little patience for the language.
Biography
Jon Huertas is an American actor. He served for eight years in the United States Air Force as an aircraft nuclear and conventional weapons specialist, taking part in Operation Just Cause and Operation Desert Storm.
Huertas played Sergeant Antonio Espera in the 2008 HBO miniseries Generation Kill. From 2009 to 2016 he portrayed Detective Javier Esposito in the series Castle. He appeared as Miguel Rivas in This Is Us from 2016 to 2022 and has directed episodes of that series and The Rookie.
His other television credits include guest roles in NCIS, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, The Shield and Elementary. He has also appeared in films including Why Do Fools Fall in Love (1998) and Executive Decision (1996).
