The first time Darren Criss appeared on the Fox sensation Glee, he shared a flirtatious moment, and instantly became a rumored love interest, for Chris Colfer’s tortured Kurt Hummel. By the end of that on-screen meeting, Criss belted out his own version of Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream.” The next day, Glee’s version of the song shot up the iTunes charts, becoming the most downloaded song yet from a show that had recently surpassed the Beatles’ record for most singles to chart on Billboard’s Hot 100. Criss, of course, knew playing gay would raise immediate questions about his own sexuality. Initially thinking he would play it coy, he soon came out as straight. “It’s more empowering to everybody if I’m articulate about identifying myself as a straight male playing a gay character,” Criss says. “Ultimately that’s more powerful for both communities.”
Read the full interview in OUT here.
