NYPD Blue's Gay Hero
On July 12, the cast of NYPD Blue returns from hiatus to shoot their 12th — and final — season. They're all sad about saying goodbye, including Bill Brochtrup, who's played John Irvin, the gorgeously-coiffed, openly gay squad-room secretary, for most of the show's run.
"It really hit me in May at ABC's fall presentation to the advertisers in New York," he tells TV Guide Online. "They did this beautiful tribute where they played a clip of the show and invited past and current cast members up on stage. Some people in the audience were welling up. I thought, 'Wow! This is the end.'"
Brochtrup wishes Blue didn't have to go, but he's made his peace with it. "[Creator] Steven Bochco wants to go out while the ratings and the quality are still good," he says. "You don't want to ride it into the ground until it becomes a tired little show nobody wants to see anymore. It's been a pretty lucky circumstance for actors to stay employed for so long. Dennis Franz has been on the entire time, Gordon Clapp started in like the second episode and, after them, I'm the next longest guy there!"
The 41-year-old actor swears he's seen no scripts yet, so he can only imagine how the series will wrap up. "Boy, if anybody deserves a happy ending, it's Sipowicz," he laughs, "although it is fun to see him fall off the wagon and have his family members getting killed." Brochtrup also would like his own character to go out happy. "I've always wanted to see John find a long-term relationship with some nice man," he grins. "And don't forget, he inherited $800,000 when his father died. So John's a catch!
"Oh, Mark-Paul Gosselaar's crazy girlfriend is gone now, so they've been joking that we'll hook up," he adds. "But I'd hate to do love scenes with my male costars and their chiseled bodies. I don't think my ego could withstand the comparison."
Over the years, Brochtrup — who's also gay offscreen — has often donated his familiar face to charity events. He's hosted many AIDS Walks and even does USO tours, despite the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. "Being out as an actor is something I feel proud of," he says, "but it's not a big deal. I would never have felt comfortable playing a gay character on the show all these years, yet refusing to talk about my real life. I would've felt like a schmuck. On USO tours, military guys have quietly thanked me for being out because a lot of them feel they can't be. So it's been a very positive thing."
This summer, Brochtrup is moonlighting as a teenager's big-hearted gay stepdad in the play Theater District at L.A.'s Black Dahlia Theater. (It runs through Aug. 1.) "I'm the lead, and I have more lines than in all of my 12 years on NYPD Blue," he laughs. "I could've taken a vacation during my hiatus, but it's been so rejuvenating to play such a different character from John. This allows me to go back to Blue and be very happy just to answer the phone and do all my meaningful looks."