Bill Brochtrup
Bill Brochtrup got his big career break when he was cast for two episodes on NYPD Blue during the show's second season. Brochtrup's portrayal of the openly gay and extremely efficient police administrative aide endeared him to viewers, as well as the show's producers.

When NYPD Blue co-creator Steven Bochco next hired Brochtrup to reprise the role of John Irvin in the sitcom, Public Morals, it created the rare occasion for the same character to appear both in a drama and a comedy, and on different networks.

Following Public Morals, Brochtrup went on to star in the ABC series, Total Security, with James Belushi. Soon after the conclusion of that series, Brochtrup returned to NYPD Blue

Since making his professional debut a decade ago in the television series, Hot Pursuit, Brochtrup has worked continuously in theater, film and television. He has guest-starred on series such as Dharma & Greg, Picket Fences and Murder, She Wrote.

Brochtrup recently starred in the off-Broadway production of "Snakebit" at the Century Theatre. His previous stage credits include D.H. Lawrence's "The Fox," for which he won a DramaLogue Award, and "Raft of the Medusa."

Brochtrup was raised in Tacoma, Washington, and attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.

from the Official NYPD Blue web site


Billy Brochtrup talks about starting out, coming out, and John Irvin, his character on NYPD Blue.

QT: When you started back in '93 on the show, they were looking for a funny, gay character for the show. What was the casting process?

BB: I'd been doing a play in Los Angeles called Raft of the Medusa by Joe Pintaro which is about an AIDS support group. At the time it was being done, it was cutting edge stuff. People didn't know about AIDS so much, and this was a very beautiful play and there was some talk about making a movie out of it. And you know, in LA there's always talk about making a movie out of it - anything you do.

That never happened, but one of the Producers had some small interest in directing that project and came to see the show, and a bunch of people from Steven Bochco productions came to see the show, and they remembered me a year later when this part came up.

QT: Were you 'out' at the time you were doing that play?

BB: I think when people talk about being out, it's a made-up thing. It implies to me that one day you were in, and the next day you were out, and I guess that happens for some people. My own self, the coming out process has been just that - a process. It's taken a long time. I mean, first you have to come out to yourself, then you have to come out to your friends, and then your family, and your coworkers, and then eventually, the press. Each one is a diferent step. At that time I was out to the people that knew me, friends and that. And I was out to some people in the business. The truth is, when you're a struggling actor there's not that many people asking to do interviews with you. So when I started, I wasn't exactly sure how I wanted to handle it. And I only came to do these two episodes. I said to my publicist at the time, "Am I going to get nasty letters from people for playing a gay character on the show?" And she said, "We have nudity. We have violence. We have bad words. You're the least of their problems." And it was true, because the mail was all very good.

QT: Did you have any concerns about being 'out' in Hollywood?

BB: When I first started doing the show, I'd done two episodes and I didn't think I'd be asked anything about it. It's interesting, because they don't teach you anything about doing interviews in acting school. They don't talk to you about the press or anything, so it was really new to me, and I didn't know how I wanted to handle it. So I did about a month's worth of interviews where I said, "Oh, I don't talk about my personal life. I don't talk about that." For me, I felt very uncomfortable trying to dodge around that. So I started saying, "Yes, I'm gay, and I don't talk about my personal life." Which is how I've left it.

I still don't talk much about my personal life. If I'm seeing people, I don't talk about that. But I think it's important to say that I'm gay, and that it's not a big deal. And I have felt a lot better living that way. And happily, it has not affected my career in any way except a good way. I've been working continually since then. You worry about it because, like all actors, I don't want to be put in some tiny little box. But the truth is, I think that typecasting is endemic to acting. And the guys who are on The Sopranos have played a lot of mobsters. And Dennis Franz has played an awful lot of cops. So when there are gay parts, my agent usually gets a call. And I've turned down a lot of them, but I've turned them down because some of them are not well written. On the other hand, I'm very happy to play gay parts if they are well written. I did a play last summer in New York called SnakeBit. We're going to do it out here again this year. I play a gay character and I'm absolutely thrilled to play gay characters, as long as they're as well written as the one in NYPD Blue is.

QT: Let's talk about John Irvin. Tell me about John's breakthrough episode, the one with the love triangle. How did you feel when you read the script?

BB: I love the writing on this show. I always have. David Milch who writes the show truly is a genius. He has a great insight into hunman nature and the way people think. And they've also done a great job incorporating John into the show because, as the secretary, they have an inherent problem, which is that I'm not out solving crimes. I'm not out on the street. I never go outside, hardly. They never let me outside. I'm in the squad room, so they have to find ways to include John in the story, and they've done a great job of doing that, by letting me profile a couple of the cases, and thereby earn some respect from Sipowicz. And the relationship I have with Sipowicz has been one of 'grudging respect.' So by the end of the second season, he shook my hand. And at the end of last year, he gave me a hug. And now, we have an understanding, and that's the most fun relationship on the show.

QT: Is his character representative of something larger in society, in the way he relates to your character?

BB: I think the original idea was for John to push some of Sipowicz' buttons. That the audience would see a mirror to themselves, and see how Sipowicz was repsonding in his homophobic way to John, who is pretty much the nicest, sweetest, most graceful person that ever existed. So they would see him being mean to me, and think "Oh Gosh, I've had those thoughts, or I've said those things, and it's not so attractive when you see it in somebody else." So I think that's what we did.

from the transcript of QT's interview with Billy Brochtrup.


GLAAD ALERT -
NYPD BLUE GOES TO A 'FAIRY BAR'

NYPD Blue's Jan. 25 episode included a story line about the detectives' investigation into the killing of a man by a male prostitute. The story rolls out in the usual NYPD Blue's street genre, the visuals and language raw-natured and pushing the envelope.

While the topic is one of reality - a messed up hustler killing his trick - the presentation, particularly in the character of Detective Sipowicz, crosses the line to being offensive. In the series, Sipowicz is played as a tough, longtime New York cop who has seen and done it all, yet in this story he is shocked and disgusted by simply being in a gay bar and later, its bathroom. Looking at some bland framed nude drawings on the bathroom wall prompts him to say in distaste, "How can you urinate in this type of environment?" Sipowicz also uses such derogatory terms as "fairy bars," "queer moron" and "fruits" without ever being challenged by anyone.

While we can applaud NYPD Blue for including the recurring character of John Irvin, an openly gay police administrative aide, work still needs to be done to avoid gratuitous language and inconsistencies in characterizations when depicting gay themes.

from glaad.org