Darren Criss, who plays openly gay student Blaine on “Glee,” locked lips with Lea Michele’s Rachel on last week’s episode – but was it a one-time smooch for the handsome Warbler? Or rather, is Blaine considering switching teams?
“It was clearly, for Blaine, an experiment, which I think is a cool thing to address,” Darren told Billy Bush and Kit Hoover of his character’s temporary canoodling in an interview on Access Hollywood Live on Friday. “More often than not, it’s like the straight guy or the straight person thinking out of the box, but the other side of that is just sort of… conflict.”
The 24-year-old actor/musician originally auditioned for the role of Finn for the hit series, but lost the role to Cory Monteith – a rejection Darren said may have been attributed to his formerly crazy coiffed hairdo.
“For the longest time I would come in [to auditions] with my big, sort of hobbit hair and my guitar and sing like Motown and Disney songs… basically just being a goofball,” Darren laughed.
The charming crooner trimmed his hair when he returned to audition for the role of “preppy” private-schooler Blaine and performed his own take on Britney Spears’ first chart topper, “… Baby One More Time.”
“For [the role of Blaine] role it was very clean-cut, preppy… so I did the ‘Dead Poets [Society]’ hair,” Darren told Billy and Kit, referencing the 1989 Robin Williams drama. “I actually sang a Rodgers and Hart tune, which is very sort of classical musical theater, then I did a version of… Britney.”
Though Darren plays an openly gay high school student on “Glee,” he said he hasn’t had a problem getting the ladies off-screen, as he is very open about his heterosexuality.
“I’ve been pretty overt about the fact that I am straight,” Darren told Billy and Kit. “I think it’s an important thing to be explicit about — not for my own sexuality, but just as a general statement that I am comfortable with my sexuality and very comfortable with the fact that I’m playing a strong gay character.”
Being a part of “Glee” has been a dream come true for the actor, who was relatively unknown in the entertainment world prior to landing a coveted role on the series.
“It’s been a blessing because it’s something I’m very proud of,” Darren told Billy and Kit. “It’s a wonderful show, great character and it’s been something that’s been very organic and it’s attached to a social-political package that I happen to be very invested in as well.”
Click HERE to see Darren’s live performance!
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