'The Closer''s Coroner Comes Out

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June 29, 2009

The coroner (Jonathan Del Arco) on "The Closer" is the one character who gets to go toe-to-toe with Deputy Chief Brenda Johnson (Kyra Sedgwick) and on tonight's episode, he even gets to give her advice on her case!

"The case revolves around the gay community, so he actually gets to have a lot of input into how to solve the crime. It is like my coming out episode, but I have never been in," Jonathan tells ET.

What the actor says he likes best about "The Closer" is the writing is so good the fact that his character is gay is irrelevant to how good he is at his job.

"Like Brenda, he is good at his job," he continues. "We want everybody else to be as good."

Jonathan and his character are both gay. And as a gay man, Jonathan supports GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network), an organization that teaches tolerance in schools.

"GLSEN has been fighting for equality in school, trying to limit bullying in general, but in particular gay and transgender kids have the highest rate of getting harassed and bullied in school," he explains.

On October 9, GLSEN will be holding the Respect Los Angeles awards at the Beverly Hills Hotel, honoring HBO, "Grey's Anatomy" creator Shonda Rhimes and David Bohnett. Tickets are available to the public, and Jonathan jokes, "Tickets are expensive, but we'll feed you, and there will be lots of stars there."

"The Closer" airs tonight at 9 p.m. on TNT.

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Tonight on ET