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Darren Criss has claimed to be “culturally queer” while discussing the “f***ing privilege” of playing a gay character as a straight man on hit musical TV series, Glee.
The 37-year-old actor has appeared in a number of high-profile queer parts throughout his career, including Blaine Anderson in Glee, Andrew Cunanan in The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, and Hedwig in Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
Criss previously told The Independent he was cautious about discussing the topic of playing LGBTQ+ roles as he had been “s*** on” for doing so, having been previously misquoted saying he would never play such parts again.
The Little White Lie actor appears to have overcome his hesitation as he announced his identification with the queer community on a cultural level.
“I have been so culturally queer my whole life,” Criss told a crowd at the 2024 Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo.
“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% queer as f***.”
He unpacked the influence that queer culture had on him as he was growing up in San Francisco, adding that he had “watched men die”.
“It was in queer communities that I’ve found people that I idolize, that I want to learn something from,” Criss continued.
“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.
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“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.”
The actor concluded that playing an openly gay character such as Blaine in Glee had been a “f***ing privilege, and I love talking about it and I’m so grateful I got to do it.”
He added that his portrayal as the lead singer of the Dalton Academy Warblers was important representation for underdogs in general.
“Regardless of the fact that I’m a straight kid. That has value. For anyone who’s been an underdog, we all know, in any shape or form — sexual, religious, biological — it has value because there’s going to be a lot of people who see that and say, ‘Okay, I can now understand this in a context that maybe I wasn’t able to before.’”
