- To perform his breakthrough role in Glee, Chris Colfer had to step outside of his comfort zone.
- The Golden Globe winner, 32, spoke with Kevin McHale and Jenna Ushkowitz on Thursday’s episode of their podcast, And That’s What You Really Missed, about how “scary” it was to play the openly homosexual role of Kurt Hummel while he himself wasn’t out at the time.
- Accordingly, Clovis, California, “has come a long way in the last couple of decades, but when I was growing up there it was dangerous to be out,” he remarked. “Children would be beaten. On one occasion, a student was stabbed while travelling to school. Being out gay was therefore not an option.”
Ryan Murphy acknowledges that Glee should have ended when Cory Monteith’s death caused its “Spirit of Joy” to depart.
“I was therefore overjoyed to learn that they had created this persona specifically for me. I was horrified when I learned it was the gay character in the script when I finally got it “Colfer threw in.
He played Kurt Hummel in the Fox musical series directed by Ryan Murphy for all six of its seasons, from 2009 to 2015.
As one of season 2’s main plot lines revolved around Kurt being bullied for his sexuality and having to transfer to a private school, where he falls in love with classmate Blaine Anderson, the character became a significant touchstone for LGBTQ representation at the time (Darren Criss).
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In the season six episode “A Wedding,” which also featured the marriage of Brittany Pierce (Heather Morris) and Santana Lopez, Kurt and Blaine were finally wed (Naya Rivera).
A family member (not his parents) even warned Colfer that portraying a gay character “would wreck your life, effectively,” as he admitted in the podcast.
“But I was utterly afraid. People advised their clients back then not to portray gay characters since doing so would harm their careers “Colfer stated. “But once more, I had been trying out for so long and had never received anything. I had no choice but to carry it out. As terrifying as it was”
The 34-year-old McHale, who also came out as gay in 2018, questioned Colfer about whether or not it bothered him that they created a gay character just for him. “Oh, definitely… They didn’t think twice. They were accurate, “Colfer stated as everyone laughed together.
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