The ABC teen drama My So-Called Life
is coming to Hulu.
The series – which ran for one season
in the mid-90s on ABC – broke ground for its inclusion of a gay
teenager.
Out actor Wilson Cruz (Star Trek:
Discovery) played 15-year-old Enrique “Rickie” Vasquez, a gay
teenager who is abused physically and emotionally by his guardian
uncle.
Speaking with PEOPLE, Cruz said that
the role changed his life.
“I thank that series for who I am
today, it gave me all of the tools I needed and gave me my
self-respect,” Wilson
said. “It gave me my family and it gave me direction and the
confidence to know that I deserved to live up to my potential.”
He said that the show also allowed him
to mend his relationship with his father.
“The most important part for me is
that there's a whole new generation of young people who will get to
meet Rickie Vasquez, who is not just this boy going on this journey
of self-acceptance, but he also is the model friend," Cruz said.
"I want people to watch this show
and see Rickie Vasquez and understand what it means to be a great
friend, not only to the people in your life, but to yourself,"
he said. "And I think Rickie is the best example. He does it. He
doesn't lie to you. He respects you. He tells you the truth. He sees
all things and he calls you out on it. And that's what a good friend
does, but he also, you know, learns to love himself. And that is the
biggest lesson here for anyone watching."
My So-Called Life, which also
stars Claire Danes and Jared Leto, begins streaming on Hulu on March
11.