Glee’s Darren Criss Says He’s Been ‘Culturally Queer My Whole Life’

When it comes to some of his most beloved roles, Darren Criss says he drew inspiration from the queer influences in his life.

During an appearance at the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo, the Glee alum, 37, reflected on his groundbreaking portrayal of Blaine Anderson, an openly gay high school student, on the Fox dramedy.

As fans may recall, Anderson and Chris Colfer’s Kurt Hummel became a beloved couple and later married on the series.

Calling the opportunity to portray a gay character with such magnitude “f—ing awesome,” Criss said in a video, which was captured by a fan, that the onscreen relationship was “a narrative that I cared deeply about.”

Since then, Criss has gone on to portray many gay characters like Andrew Cunanan in American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace and the titular role of Hedwig in the Broadway musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Though he identifies as a straight, cisgender man, the actor said that he’s been “so culturally queer my whole life.”

“The things in my life that I have tried to emulate, learn from and be inspired by are 100 percent queer as f—,” he explained. “It was in queer communities that I’ve found people that I idolize, that I want to learn something from, and I’d say that’s a gross generalization, that’s a lot of things and a lot of people. But I grew up in San Francisco in the ’90s. I watched men die. There was an awareness of the gay experience that was not a foreign concept to me. So, it was a narrative that I cared deeply about.”

Though he wasn’t a gay actor, Criss added that he knew the gravity and importance of playing Blaine Anderson authentically.

“They hired me… They said, ‘You’re the guy,’ and I said, ‘OK, I’m the guy, I will do my best,'” he said.

In 2018, Criss announced he would no longer accept LGBTQ+ roles because he didn’t want to take any potential roles away from actors who actually identify as gay.

“There are certain [queer] roles that I’ll see that are just wonderful,” he told Bustle. “But I want to make sure I won’t be another straight boy taking a gay man’s role.”

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Although playing those roles has “been a real joy,” Criss said he didn’t feel comfortable doing it anymore, which he says is “unfortunate.”

“The reason I say that is because getting to play those characters is inherently a wonderful dramatic experience,” he said. “It has made for very, very compelling and interesting people.”