Glee star Darren Criss talks "culturally queer" lifestyle
May 2, 2024Glee and Hollywood star Darren Criss has referred to himself as "culturally queer" at a recent fan convention.
The American actor famously gained recognition through his role in the Fox musical comedy Glee as Blaine Anderson, the openly gay lead vocalist of the Dalton Academy Warblers who enters a romantic relationship with Chris Colfer’s character, Kurt Hummel.
Blaine and Kurt have been celebrated as one of television’s most iconic queer duos.
Image Credit: Canva
Following his performance as the main character in Hedwig and the Angry Inch on Broadway, Criss starred in American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace portraying Andrew Cunanan, a gay serial killer, earning him both a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe.
Identifying as heterosexual, Criss recently expressed his admiration for the queer community during the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (C2E2), highlighting the pioneering role of Blaine and Kurt’s relationship on television.
“It was f**king awesome,” he proclaimed to the audience. “These days, it's simply known as a relationship on TV. However, to put it into context, having a gay relationship on mainstream Fox was an incredibly cool experience to be part of.”
According to ‘Gay Times’, Criss again labeled himself as “culturally queer” due to his upbringing in San Francisco amidst “queer communities.”
“I’ve been so culturally queer my entire life,” he said. “Not because I am striving to be cool — actually, scratch that, because I am trying to be cool. The aspects of my life that I’ve sought to imitate, absorb, and draw inspiration from are utterly queer as f**k.
“In the queer communities, I discovered individuals I admired, from whom I wished to learn. And I would say that’s vastly generalizing, it covers many aspects and many people. But, having grown up in San Francisco during the '90s, I witnessed men passing away. Awareness of the gay experience was not something unfamiliar to me; it was a storyline I profoundly cared about.”
In 2018, Criss announced that, after portraying three well-known gay characters, he will no longer accept queer roles in the future.
“There are certain [queer] roles that I see which are simply fantastic,” he mentioned to Bustle. “But I aim to avoid being another straight guy playing a gay man’s role.”
Darren described it as “a real joy” to have played the roles mentioned earlier, but stated he now feels uneasy continuing them. He termed it “unfortunate,” but clarified: “The reason I mention this is because portraying those characters has always been an inherently wonderful dramatic experience.
“It has resulted in incredibly captivating and complex characters.”
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