EXCLUSIVE: Chris Colfer is Living the Teenage Dream

IT CONTAINS SPOILERS!

Glee’s Chris Colfer wasn’t really expecting an avalanche of statistics when he sat down for an interview with AfterElton.com on Friday, but that’s what he got.

When he spoke to us, Colfer, the character he plays, and Glee itself were dominating every category they were nominated for in the AfterElton.com Visibility Awards – favorite TV comedy, favorite TV actor, favorite TV couple, best gay moment, and gay/bi man of the year. Although Colfer’s currently neck and neck with Adam Lambert in that last category, on Friday he had more votes than Lambert, Neil Patrick Harris and Dan Savage combined.

“Oh. My. God,” he said. “Wow. I’m very surprised. I knew the interview I was doing with you was going to be about that, but I had no idea that I would be in the lead or anything like that.”

After a little joking about what he gets if he wins – he said he’d like a pony, and if he gets one, he’ll definitely name him “Elton” – the conversation turned to the the clip of Blaine (Darren Criss) singing “Teenage Dream” to Colfer’s character, Kurt. The clip was, and is, solidly in the lead for “Best gay moment of the year,” even ahead of the overturning of Prop 8 and the “It Gets Better” anti-bullying campaign, for which Colfer made a video.

“I have to tell them all that I so appreciate that,” he said, “But I think that the ‘It Gets Better’ campaign and the federal court decision overturning Prop 8 are much more important.” Still, he agreed, both “Teenage Dream” and the more recent, holiday-themed “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” feature a kind of flirtatious singing that’s unlike anything ever seen between two high school boys on television before, and he definitely understands why moments of visibility like that are important to GLBT youth.

“I always get excited when I film the Blaine/Kurt stuff just because I know it means so much to people, and it makes them so excited,” he said, then added, “It’s such a tease, that relationship, isn’t it?”

Pressed for even a tiny hint as to whether the tease would ever pay off, he swore he really didn’t know. “Everyone wants it to happen, but as of right now, we’re filming Episode 12 and it hasn’t happened yet,” he said. “It could be Blaine, or it could be someone else, or who knows? Maybe there’s going to be a love triangle. I really do not know.”

In fact, he says, he’s not sure show creator Ryan Murphy even knows. “I actually saw [him] last night, and I asked him and he wouldn’t tell me,” he said. “Which makes me think that he doesn’t even really know, so we’ll see. I think they’re kind of milking it for what it’s worth, and then seeing where it goes.”


Colfer said that being kept mostly in the dark about his character’s future is just how it happens on the show. “The only thing I knew about this season going into it was that Kurt was going to get a boyfriend and that’s all that they told me,” he said. “We actually started filming a little bit of a bully arc prior to all the suicides, and prior to it becoming really in the news. But that really inspired us to continue on that storyline and build it up to what it’s become.

“But I had no idea. It seems like I always say I had no idea that this was going to happen, or that was going to happen, because we get a little tiny molehill of what could happen in a script or what could happen in a season, and then suddenly they become huge mountains in the media and the world.”

So, if Colfer weren’t in the cast, and was just a small town gay high school kid watching the show, what would he want to see happen between Blaine and Kurt?

“I’d want exactly what I want now, which is just for it to be handled with honesty and truth and for it to be taken seriously,” he said. “And I think it’s been taken very seriously so far. I think it’s been handled great so far, and I just hope they continue to do that, which I think they will. They seem to have no problem doing that.”

Then he laughed. “I do have to say that that shot of them running down the hall was too gay even for me. I had no idea they were going to use that in slow motion, and then when I saw it, I turned to the director and I said, ‘Are you kidding me?’ I couldn’t believe it.”

Working with Criss has been great, Colfer said, although some of the scenes are a little difficult to shoot. “We film all the Dalton Academy stuff in Pasadena, so it always seems almost like I’m on another TV show when I’m filming there,” he said. “And it’s so strange filming anything without the rest of my Glee family there. Thank God it’s the same crew, so I don’t get too lonely.

“But Darren and I, we have a great time. I have fun with him. I was a big fan of his before he was cast because I was a big fan of A Very Potter Musical. And the funny thing is, even when I told him that when I first met him, I don’t think he quite believed me. I think he just thought I did a little research on him. But no, I actually was a big fan of his, because I just thought that whole thing was so genius. So I do ask him quite a bit about making that, and what it’s like to go to Michigan, and all that. He takes everything very seriously, which is very comforting. He’s great.”

When it comes to being on the set, though, Amber Riley (Mercedes) and show creator Ryan Murphy are the most fun for Colfer to work with. “Seriously, Amber and I or Ryan and I just sit there and make each other laugh constantly. Ryan and Amber are two of the only people who can make me laugh for a long period of time, like crying and can’t form any words ‘cause I’m laughing so hard.

“Just last night, we were filming this scene with the Dalton Warblers, and Ryan’s direction for the Warblers was that they needed to be ‘more drag queen.’ And of course, we were teasing him mercilessly because I told him he could be directing a Holocaust movie, and that would be his direction for the prisoners and the Nazis, that they needed to be ‘more drag queen.’

“So I have a great, great time with Ryan and we always impersonate Patti LuPone and Cher and people like that. Of course, Amber and I are both very sarcastic and make judgmental comments about pretty much everything. And then the three of us together, I mean, it should be illegal. We have so much fun.”


Does that mean we’ll have more Kurt and Mercedes this season, even though the relationship seems to be on the back burner at the moment?

“I certainly hope so,” he said. “I actually got this letter from this woman saying, ‘The only thing that bothered me about the “Never Been Kissed” episode was the fact that Mercedes didn’t find Karofsky and kick his ass.’ And I thought, ‘Oh, my God. You are so right.’ I would love to see that storyline. I love to see Mercedes step up for Kurt, and I love to see Kurt step up for Mercedes. I think they have a great friendship and, yeah, I definitely hope they explore that more.”

What about the segment of fans who think Kurt and Dave Karofsky (Max Adler), the football player who is harassing him at McKinley High, might be involved romantically in the future?

“I remember as soon as the first kiss seen happened in the locker room,” he said, “which I was shocked to read – I’m still shocked that that actually it aired – I actually had this thought to myself. ‘Oh, maybe they’re just going to give everyone whiplash and Karofsky’s going to become the boyfriend.’ But then after Karofsky threatened to kill Kurt, threatened to take his life, I think that was thrown out of the water. I would not want that to be seen, because I don’t think that sends a good message out there.”

“Whiplash” is also a good word to describe the change playing Kurt has brought about in Colfer’s life. “I’m still just getting over being cast three years ago, let alone Kurt’s becoming such an influential and inspiring character,” he said. “I don’t think I could have ever imagined that. The dream keeps getting bigger and bigger and my pinch just keeps getting harder and harder.”

Asked if he knew Entertainment Weekly called Kurt the most important character on television today, he laughed. “You see? Exhibit A. Who would have thought? Not me, for sure. I’m sure Kurt would have thought that, though. I’m sure Kurt would have said, ‘Well, of course I am.’ But I would have never predicted that.”

Something else he’d have never predicted is widespread critical acclaim for his powerful acting, including an Emmy nomination for what is the first major role of a very young actor. And, he said, he’s having a hard time taking it in.

“I have never really been one to soak up the good,” he said. “I always seem to focus on the negative although, thankfully, there really hasn’t been that much. But there’s been some negative feedback about the storyline, and that’s always what I tend to focus on, which I know is kind of crazy.”

The acclaim he’s received sometimes feels like pressure to Colfer. “It makes you think, what am I going to do next? How am I going to top this? And I think everyone’s kind of put me in a role model position, and that definitely is a lot of pressure. But I think as long as I make sure that the character is always handled with respect and dignity, and I handle myself that way, then I should be fine.”

Some of the negative feedback Colfer’s heard is that Kurt’s character is too much of a stereotype. “I feel like people say that about any gay character, no matter what show they’re on, no matter what they’re about,” he said. “They always say it’s stereotypical. Personally, I don’t see Kurt as a stereotype, but maybe it’s because I have a bigger insight into what’s going on in his brain. I remember when I first developed the character, I wanted him to be different in the respect that I wanted him to be very real, and I think often gay characters on TV shows are punching bags, or punch lines, or annoying characters in the background.

“Kurt can be kind of bitchy sometimes. But other than that, I don’t think he is a stereotype. I think he’s a very vulnerable kid trying to make it in a world that tells him he shouldn’t be who he is. But I’ve never thought of him as a stereotype just because I would never want to portray a stereotype at all.”

Colfer has also seen some fans who think the show is featuring Kurt’s storyline, and gay elements in general, too prominently. “I think the thing that bothers me the most is when people say that the show is focusing too much on the gay character,” he said. “Number one, it makes me upset that people don’t think a gay character could be featured that way. But what upsets me the most is the fact that this storyline that Kurt is going through, and these experiences that he’s going through, need to be seen more than ever.

“I mean, think about how many kids killed themselves just last month. This is a storyline that needs to be seen. Quite frankly, I don’t care if people think it’s worthy enough for their entertainment. It’s something that’s more than that. It’s important for kids to see Kurt and the experiences that he goes through. It’s very critical for the kids out there to know they’re not alone. And so I think that when people say, ‘Glee’s gone so gay, blah, blah, blah,’ – well, maybe it has, but it’s for a reason.”

source: afterelton.com