Darren Criss has performed queer roles through the years and is now explaining why he says he’s “culturally homosexual.”
One of many actor’s most remembered roles is Blaine Anderson from Glee, and through an look on the Chicago Comedian & Leisure Expo, he was requested in regards to the influence of his character and the on-screen relationship with Chris Colfer’s Kurt.
“F***ing superior,” Criss stated about portraying the homosexual character. “It was a story that I cared deeply about.”
Criss identifies as a straight, cisgender male and attributes his understanding of the LGBTQ+ group to his upbringing in San Francisco, California.
“I’ve been so culturally queer my complete life,” he stated. “Not as a result of I’m making an attempt, you already know, truly, I used to be gonna say, not as a result of I’m making an attempt to be cool, however I’m gonna erase that, as a result of I’m making an attempt to be cool. The issues in my life that I’ve tried to emulate, study from, and be impressed by are one hundred pc queer as f***.”
Criss continued, “It was in queer communities that I’ve discovered people who I idolize, that I wish to study one thing from. And I’d say that’s a gross generalization, that’s a variety of issues and lots of people. However I grew up in San Francisco within the ’90s. I watched males die. There was an consciousness of the homosexual expertise that was not a overseas idea to me. So, it was a story that I cared deeply about.”
The actor portrayed Blaine within the collection Glee for six seasons and went on to play different homosexual characters, like Andrew Cunanan, in American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace. He additionally performed the titular position within the Broadway musical Hedwig and the Indignant Inch.