Darren Criss
Darren Criss
Darren Everett Criss is an American actor, singer, and Emmy-nominated songwriter. One of the founding members and co-owners of StarKid Productions, a musical theater company based in Chicago, Criss first garnered attention playing the lead role of Harry Potter in StarKid's musical production of A Very Potter Musical. The theater troupe made Billboard history when their original album, Me and My Dick, became the first charting student-produced musical recording, debuting at number eleven on the Top Cast Albums chart in...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionTV Actor
Date of Birth5 February 1987
CitySan Francisco, CA
CountryUnited States of America
I've always loved Broadway, but I never thought I'd actually do it because I was never a full Broadway dancer. And I don't have a big, booming voice.
As an actor it's your job to empathise with your character regardless of whether they have a different sexual orientation, spiritual beliefs, or anything.
I've always enjoyed fashion and dressing up for things, whether it's high fashion or play fashion.
I remember seeing 'Aladdin' when I was five or six and loving it. I looked at the big screen and said to my mum, 'Whatever this Genie guy does, I want to do.' Mum said I couldn't be a genie, but that Robin Williams, who did the voice-over in the film, was an actor. So I said, 'OK, then, I want to be an actor.'
When I play live in restaurants and cafes, I don't play my own stuff. I play jazz and 'American Songbook' standards, and I'll fuse it with top 40.
I'm like any other composer. If you give me five years to write a symphony, I'm still going to be asking for more time two days before it's due.
I always make time for the things that are important to me.
Theater is a living creature. It takes a while to break in, like a new pair of shoes.
I was inadvertently raised in the 'gay community.' I had straight parents, but I spent massive amounts of time at a very early age with gay, theater-hopeful thirty-somethings.
When I'm in the U.K. I find myself using a lot of Britishisms.
People fall in love with a person, not a gender
My biggest fear? My biggest fear would be turning into an inanimate object.
Never let what is popular actually define your taste or interests.
There's nothing more badass than being who you are.