Julian Acosta always advocates for his characters despite their sometimes unsavory motivations. His upcoming roles on "Madam Secretary" and "NCIS: Los Angeles" as well as his part on Amazon's "Hand of God" fall under that category, but he doesn't necessarily see those characters as instigators.
"I see myself advocating directly for the President of the United States [on 'Madam Secretary'] or Brooks Innovations [on 'Hand of God'] and trying to secure their interests and move their agenda forward," Acosta told Headlines & Global News in an exclusive interview.
Representing the president's interests on "Madam Secretary" will put Acosta's Craig Sterling in direct conflict with Secretary of State Elizabeth McCord (Téa Leoni). Their difference of opinion on foreign policy matters will put them at odds for at least eight episodes this season.
"From my point of view, I take a tact that behooves the president's interests, our country's interests and his re-election prospects. Whereas I see her point of view and the advice that she gives as fighting from a backlit position rather than an aggressive position," Acosta explained.
The presidential adviser and McCord are able to keep their relationship civil and professional despite their differences, but Sterling likely won't change the secretary's long-term position on any pressing issues.
"There are certain instances where we agree wholeheartedly," Acosta said. "As far as changing her permanently in any way - Not a chance!"
The seasoned actor not only walked onto a show that had a very successful first season, but its first episode back also featured a guest-starring role by the Oscar-winning Morgan Freeman, who also directed the episode. Acosta found the experience of having Freeman as his director both daunting and inspiring.
"It's literally the voice of God," he said, laughing. "It was a privilege and it was an honor. I love actors who direct because we speak the same language and we come from a similar point of view. I was very, very excited about it. Even beyond meeting the man, getting to work with him on top of that was just the proverbial gravy."
Later this season, Acosta will stir up trouble for the "NCIS: Los Angeles" team as Assistant United States Attorney Oscar Guevera. He will present a roadblock for Callan, Sam and the rest of the NCIS agents as they investigate a cult.
"I play, again, the thorn in the side of the team. I'm there to restrain them a little bit and slow down the zeal of their investigation into a cult," Acosta said.
For his part on "Being Mary Jane," Acosta's character Gael proved a challenge for his on-screen girlfriend Kara (Lisa Vidal), but not for any malicious reasons. He wanted her to reexamine her life to better understand what it's like to be part of a real adult relationship.
"I think you get to a certain point in your life in the context of a relationship where you have to stop looking outside of yourself for the solution to whatever relationship issues you have because they're not there. The answers are with you," he said about Kara. "Usually, people end up, either consciously or unconsciously, having some sort of fantasy relationship with another person. His goal was to have an honest one. No matter what path that journey might have taken them on, I think that was his priority number one and not to let her off the hook."
Acosta's successful career has provided him the opportunity to give back to students in his native Puerto Rico by providing college scholarships each year to two students (one male, one female) at the high school where his grandmother taught. His passion for the issue came from those educators in his family and building a stronger Puerto Rico, a territory that loses many of its best and brightest to the States.
"We started last year, and the only stipulation, given that in Puerto Rico there's such a huge migration of young professionals leaving the island seeking economic opportunities in the United States, the only stipulation was their education would have to happen in the University of Puerto Rico system," he said. "The idea being to try and keep some of those young talented people, give them the opportunity to move forward in Puerto Rico and they in turn are able to make a difference."
Acosta was fortunate to go to an English-speaking school growing up because his father worked for the federal government. He and his family moved to the U.S. when he was 15 after his father was transferred to the El Paso intelligence center in Texas.
"I know education made a huge difference in my life," he said. "Most of my family did not [go to English-speaking schools]. I visited their schools and have seen their schools and seen the challenges that they have to endure in order to get that key to change their lives which is education. I got tired of watching things on the news of what's going on and what's not going on. I just felt that it was important to do something about it at whatever level I could."
Be sure to catch Acosta on "Madam Secretary" on Sundays at 8 p.m. EDT on CBS and when he returns to "Being Mary Jane," which returns for its third season on Tuesday, Oct. 20 on BET. He can also be seen on Amazon's "Hand of God," now available for streaming.
