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 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.