Marcus St. James

Marcus St. James is a fictional character in the American dramedy series Ugly Betty. He is played by Michael Urie. Marc's character is equivalent to Hugo Lombardi.

Background

Marc, who hails from Schenectady, New York, is the openly gay personal assistant of Wilhelmina Slater, the creative editor at MODE magazine. He is very loyal to Wilhelmina and so far he will do whatever it will take to help his boss succeed in her goal to become the magazine's editor by conspiring with both his boss and magazine receptionist Amanda to sabotage the two people responsible for costing Wilhelmina the top job, and in particular, ruin the 'beauty' of the magazine's workplace: Daniel Meade and Betty Suarez, respectively. Despite his semi-scheming and his efforts to detour the two, Marc has a record in failing in those efforts and at times finds himself at the mercy of his boss' wrath, where she had threatened to replace him with any other "curly haired, effete sycophant," five of whom she has on speed dial.

Although he has made no secret that he is openly gay as evident by his flamboyant behavior and his refusal to touch an attractive female, he has not told his family, who thinks he is straight and has a girlfriend who lives in Canada.[2] He has also used Amanda as a beard for three years.

When Marc's mother came to visit him for a cat show, Marc uses Betty as a fake girlfriend to cover up his sexuality. However, when she sees the dysfunctional nature of Betty's family while having dinner and begins to speak harshly about the craziness of the Suarez family, Marc surprisingly talks back to her and defends Betty and her family. He eventually confesses that Betty isn't his girlfriend and comes out to her. Unfortunately, Marc's mother rejects him, and leaves for home.

In the second season, Marc has become a mentor for Betty's nephew Justin while he is interning at MODE, helping Wilhelmina in her scheme to marry Bradford Meade so she can take over Meade Publications and assisting Amanda in searching for her birth father after she told him about Fey Sommers being her biological mother. He will also get a love interest in the form of a gay photographer named Cliff, who Marc doesn't find attracted.

Marc is also one of three people who knows about Fey Sommers' secret "Love Dungeon", the other two being Amanda and Christina.