Darren Criss has described himself as “culturally queer”.
The American actor memorably rose to fame on the Fox musical comedy Glee as Blaine Anderson, the openly gay lead singer of the Dalton Academy Warblers who becomes romantically involved with Chris Colfer’s mainstay Kurt Hummel.
Blaine and Kurt have since been hailed as one of the most iconic queer couples in television history.
After playing the title character in Hedwig and the Angry Inch on Broadway, Criss went on to star in American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace as gay serial killer Andrew Cunanan, for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award and Golden Globe.
Criss, who identifies as a straight man, recently opened up about his reverence for the queer community at the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (C2E2) and the impact of Blaine and Kurt’s trailblazing relationship on television.
“It was f**king awesome,” he told the crowd. “Nowadays, we just call it a relationship on TV. But to contextualize it, a gay relationship on mainstream Fox, that’s a pretty cool thing to be a part of.”
Criss continued to describe himself as “culturally queer” as a result of his San Francisco upbringing, where he was surrounded by “queer communities”.
“I have been so culturally queer my whole life,” he explained. “Not because I’m trying — you know, actually, I was gonna say not because I’m trying to be cool but I’m gonna erase that, because I am trying to be cool. The things in my life that I have tried to emulate, learn from and be inspired by are 100 percent queer as f**k.
“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.”
In 2018, Criss revealed that, after playing three high-profile gay roles, he won’t take on queer characters in the future.
“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.”
Darren said it’s been “a real joy” playing the aforementioned characters, but said he now doesn’t feel comfortable playing them. He called it “unfortunate”, but explained further: “The reason I say that is because getting to play those characters is inherently a wonderful dramatic experience.
“It has made for very, very compelling and interesting people.”
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