Adamo Ruggiero

Adamo Ruggiero is a Canadian actor best known for playing Marco Del Rossi on Degrassi: The Next Generation (CTV/The N, 2001–2008) — one of the first openly gay teenage characters on North American teen drama television, whose coming-out storyline unfolded across multiple seasons and explored bullying, first relationships, and family rejection with unusual candor. Ruggiero came out as gay publicly, making his portrayal of Marco one of the few instances of an openly gay actor playing an openly gay character in mainstream teen TV at the time. He has since continued to act and advocate for LGBTQ+ visibility in Canadian media.