Jon Huertas

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 homicide detective Javier Esposito in Castle, 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, and Miguel Rivas in This Is Us.

Early life Huertas was born in northern Virginia but brought up in New York City to a Puerto Rican father and an American mother. He was raised by his grandparents. By ten 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, Virginia, 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 eight years as an aircraft nuclear/conventional weapons specialist. He participated in Operation Just Cause and Operation Desert Storm.

Career A chance encounter with Woody Harrelson in 1991 encouraged Huertas to further pursue an acting career, which 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.

Huertas joined the cast of This Is Us in 2016 for the show's 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 would wind up married to Mandy Moore's character, Rebecca.

In October 2019, Huertas appeared on The Rookie. He played Alejandro Mejia/Cesar Ojeda in the episode "The Bet", reuniting 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 2022 Prisoner's Daughter Joseph 2026 California Scenario Also producer

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 episodes Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Trevor 1 episode NCIS Sergeant Jack Kale 2 episodes 2009 Dark Blue Chavez 1 episode 2009–2016 CastleJavier "Javi" 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 Recurring (season 1); Main role (season 2–6) 2019 The RookieAlejandro Mejia/Cesar Ojeda 1 episode "The Bet"

Directing credits Television Year Title Notes 2016–2022 This Is Us 2 episodes 2022–2026 The Rookie 3 episodes 2023 The Rookie: Feds 1 episode 2023 The Company You Keep 1 episode 2024–2026 Tracker 3 episodes 2025 The Irrational 1 episode 2025 Ballard 1 episode