Cuban American actor Carlo Arrechea is ready to come out & open his heart (exclusive)

Born in Havana, Cuba in 1990, Carlo Arrechea was raised by his mother, Lucia de Fátima (in her early 20s at the time), and his grandfather, Luis Moreno, who both worked as actors and inspired him to also pursue a career in the arts. Unfortunately, he never got the chance to actually meet his father, who passed away from a car accident just 17 days after Arrechea was born.

Arrechea landed his first acting role when he was six years old, starring alongside his mother in a Cuban version of an "afterschool special" made for TV. Then, at age 12, his family won what is known as the "green card lottery" — formally named the Diversity Immigrant Visa (DV) Program — which is an extremely rare path for foreigners to legally move to the United States.

"My mom played the [green card] lottery in 1998. She got the letter four years later, in 2002, when she was actually in the prime of her career," Arrechea tells Out. "It was a lot of mixed feelings. For me, it was a new start. For her, it was abandoning her acting career and starting all over again."

Despite Arrechea's mother experiencing such a crossroads moment in her life and career, their family did move to Miami, Florida at the time. "I've been in the U.S. longer than I was in Cuba," the 34-year-old actor reflects. "But it's funny because I sometimes don't feel Cuban enough, but I also don't feel American enough. It's like this mix of both countries, and I've been taking the best of each one."

Besides struggling with language barriers and culture shock upon moving to the U.S., Arrechea remembers feeling impressed by the "abundance" and "prosperity" that he encountered. "That's what stood out, for me, as a kid," he says. "One of my dreams, in Cuba, I always wanted to eat an apple [laughs]. There weren't apples in Cuba, at least when I was there. So that was the first thing I ate when I came to the States."

Arrechea was 15 when he had his first official girlfriend in high school, and he cringes when recalling his MySpace username at the time: "QbanDaddy4sho." But during those first experiences with women, he acknowledges that "there was always an attraction" to men, too. Arrechea initially thought that everyone else must've felt the same way, except that he "wanted to kiss the person," which was different from a straight man just acknowledging that another man looked good (without any romantic or sexual interest).

Here, Arrechea hits on a very unfortunate — but very common — conundrum that takes place in so many Latin American countries. I tell Arrechea about my experiences being born and raised in Brazil, a country that fully embraces hundreds of out LGBTQ+ artists in mainstream media but also has one of the highest murder rates of queer and trans people in the world.

Arrechea has a similar perception of Cuba. He explains that while Cubans are often seen as "very sexual" and even fluid, flamboyant gay kids there still get mercilessly "bullied and roasted" by classmates — which is something that he really wants to help change.

At 17, Arrechea started to "explore" his attraction toward other men. However, navigating this other world — even if he was already living in Miami — wasn't as straightforward as dating girls. "Back then, it was Craigslist," he says, recalling his first time "date" with a guy.

"He was older, probably around his late 20s," Arrechea tells Out. "I skipped high school, he picked me up, and he drove me all the way to his house, which I remember was very far." He briefly pauses, remarking that he's "never talked about this with anybody in his life," and it's clear that he really has a hard time trying to remember specific details about that experience.

He continues, "I just remember that when we arrived [at his place], I got very scared. He kind of tried to force it; he was very pushy. But nothing happened, thankfully, and he drove me back."

Arrechea was 15 years old when he lost his virginity with a girl. In turn, he was 17 during his first sexual experience with a guy — they met on MySpace, and the other guy was just a year or two older than him.

"I don't know if that happens to you," Arrechea adds, "but there are parts of my life that I have tried to… not erase, they're there; but if you don't talk about it or ask me about it, I wouldn't even remember." For instance, I can see it on Arrechea's face as he remembers another experience in his life and considers whether or not he feels comfortable sharing it.

"When I was still in Cuba, I was probably 10, and there were two women who were probably 17 or 18, and they kind of molested me," he recalls. "That was something that kind of, like… not messed me up, because I don't want to say it messed me up, but it had an impact on me."

Arrechea says, "I always attracted those kinds of situations, for some reason, when I was younger. I remember this time, I was 18, already in Miami, and I met this man in South Beach. I was doing a play at the time, and he was like, 'Oh, you're an actor. I have a theater. Maybe we can work on something together.' I always think, 'Why did I even keep talking to him?'"

"I was very naïve for a very long time," he concludes.

As he struggled to navigate his dating life and experienced a few slippery slopes, Arrechea decided to focus on his work instead. This is when he starred in back-to-back telenovelas such as 2009's Más sabe el diablo (Telemundo), 2010's El Cartel 2 (Caracol Televisión), and 2011's Alguien te mira (Telemundo).

In 2011, at age 21, Arrechea landed the role that leveled up his career: Sebastian, a character who served as comic relief for the Spanish-language Nickelodeon series Grachi (translated as Every Witch Way to U.S. viewers), which was filmed in Miami.

"I had been doing theater, which was my foundation while studying at the Miami Dade College, and I was actually this close to giving up on Grachi," Arrechea says. "I had auditioned like three times, and they would always say something like, 'Oh, he's not right for the part.' There was always an excuse. I was like, 'You know what? I'm going to give up. I think acting is not for me.' And then, randomly, I get this call, and it's like, 'Oh, they actually have a role for you. They would love to see you. Can you go to the studio?' I went, and it completely changed my life."

He adds, "Grachi, for me, it really put me on the radar. It was my big break. I got to travel to El Salvador, Colombia, Mexico, Dominican Republic… all just to spend time with the fans, and it was life-changing. It was such a beautiful experience, and it is still, even to this day. I still get so many messages from fans."

Between the second and third seasons of Grachi, Arrechea played Juancho in the telenovela El Talismán, which aired in 2012 on Univision. And after Grachi wrapped, he starred in his first-ever leading role in a romantic-comedy film, La ReBusqueda — a movie from El Salvador that remains one of the highest-grossing films in the country.

Arrechea's big exposure and success in these various Spanish-language productions created a conundrum for the actor: he wasn't necessarily "Hollywood famous," but when it came to living in Miami and visiting countries in Latin America, he was suddenly a very recognizable face and a public figure from film and TV.

"I had always been honest with my circle of friends in Miami," Arrechea tells Out. "But as a public figure and as an actor, I never shared anything regarding my sexuality." Following this momentum in his acting career, Arrechea was presented with two options: move to Mexico and focus on building up his career from previous projects, or move to Los Angeles and start from the ground up. After a few calls with an L.A. manager, he was convinced to go there to do a "pilot season."

Upon arrival, he immediately sensed that Los Angeles was where he was meant to be.

That pilot season had Arrechea auditioning for quite a few shows. Namely, he auditioned for Empire to play Jamal Lyon's (Jussie Smollett) boyfriend, Michael Sanchez, but the role went to Arrechea's former Grachi costar, Rafael de la Fuente. Arrechea also auditioned to star as Rafael Solano on Jane the Virgin, a part that went to actor Justin Baldoni instead.

Arrechea subsequently got a scholarship to the prestigious Stella Adler Academy of Acting & Theatre and was there for nearly three years. "It changed my acting, especially coming from the Latino market," he notes. "It also helped me get to know myself better. I feel that, as actors, the more you know yourself, the better actor you're going to be. You have to be truthful."

These learning experiences, between auditioning and training, prompted Arrechea to become "more selective" about the people that he was surrounded with, as well as the friends that he stayed in touch with. When asked if he came out to the new friends he made in L.A., Arrechea says that his bisexuality was treated as a non-issue. "I was always just like, 'Today, I'm dating this person.' And then, 'Today, I'm dating that person.' Just it is what it is."

Arrechea is still searching for the person that he calls "the right one," but also highlights his tight group of friends with whom he can just be himself, "go to the beach, go on a hike, and do movie nights."

In 2020, Arrechea made a guest appearance on the long-running CBS procedural drama S.W.A.T., where played a middleweight Cuban boxer named Gio Torres. "I had to shave my head, and I gained 15 pounds," he says. "He was a world-champion boxer, so I took boxing lessons, too. It was a lot of character work."

After his episode of S.W.A.T. aired, Arrechea became an early Emmy Award contender for his guest performance. This led his former representatives to tell Arrechea that he shouldn't share that he's a bisexual man. He explains, "They were like, 'These actors that you probably don't know., who are gay or bi or whatever, they just don't say anything. They have this straight image, so please don't say anything, because it can affect your career.' So, I was like, 'Okay.'"

"You know, what was I supposed to say, Bernardo?" he asks, rhetorically. "I was like… f*ck," he takes a beat. "It was the first time I've been even f*cking considered for an Emmy nomination. This was huge for my career. Especially for a role where I was representing my birth country, Cuba, on primetime television. So, at the time, I was like, 'You know what? I'm not going to say anything.'"

"But f*ck that," Arrechea protests, having completely changed his mind over time. "Like, f*ck that. Why do I have to do that? I just want to be who I am. If somebody doesn't want to give me a role because I have a different preference of who I sleep with or who I love… then f*ck them."

Arrechea has heard from former managers — and even industry peers — that, because he's already Latino, he can't also be an out bisexual actor. "They say, 'You have to be one or the other,'" he says. "But no, I actually don't have to decide [between those two options] because you're telling me to decide. I know many people going through the same thing; I guess I'm a rebel. I just want to be who the f*ck I want to be and live as my authentic self. I don't want to hide."

When asked if he's been inspired by various male celebrities who have been coming out as bisexual in recent years, Arrechea explains that, in his case, it's been much more of an "inner calling." He mentions that it's rare for him to even come across opportunities to play for queer characters, but adds that he's currently testing for a new project that could be the biggest thing he's ever done.

Arrechea drops hints about the project, but insists that he can't say any more. Is it a queer character, though? "Oh, no, this character is actually homophobic," he blurts out, and stops himself there, laughing.

"To be honest, I even came close to canceling this interview with you, because I got in my head," Arrechea confesses. "I was like, 'What if they don't give me this part because of this?' But f*ck that. The whole point is that I'm opening my heart. I'm doing this because I want to live as my authentic self. I should be allowed to do that."

Arrechea joined the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 2024. And just last month, in September, he attended the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards as a member and voter of the Academy.

Though he's clearly very excited about the project that he's currently auditioning for, Arrechea daydreams of playing Ricky Ricardo, a.k.a. Desi Arnaz, one day — the Cuban American star of I Love Lucy, who was married to Lucille Ball for 20 years.

Arrechea is also flexing his other creative muscles as an executive producer of a new film titled Unspoken Bonds from writer-director Andreina P. Aristeiguieta. The movie is centered on a family that, on the verge of falling apart, uncovers life-altering secrets about themselves.

As we wrap up our conversation, Arrechea is excited, trepidatious, and also curious about what his life and career will look like after coming out so publicly. Most of all, though, he suspects that he'll be able to show up to people and projects feeling at ease about who he is. "I've been really vulnerable," he remarks. "But I already feel so much lighter."

The power of coming out. We love to see it!