Darren criss gay


Darren Criss Is Straight, But Considers Himself 'Culturally Queer'

Darren Criss identifies as straight, but he&#;s played a lot of gay roles: Blaine in Glee, Andrew Cunanan in The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, and Hedwig in Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Obviously, this has put him smack dab in the middle of the &#;should straight actors play queer?&#; conversation.

Back in , Darren made headlines for saying he didn&#;t wanna be &#;another straight lad taking a gay man&#;s role.&#; People took this to indicate he was swearing off LGBTQIA+ roles forever. Several months later, Darren told the Independent that he was misquoted and &#;never said this.&#; He added that he&#;d been &#;shit on&#; for accepting queer roles, and had turned &#;plenty&#; down because he didn&#;t think he could include value to them.

Let&#;s cut to this past weekend, shall we? Darren was at the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo, and he was asked about Glee. Specifically, what was it appreciate portraying the groundbreaking relationship between his character and Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer)?

Darren Criss will no longer perform LGBT characters

"There are certain roles that I'll see that are just wonderful," he explained.

"But I want to make sure I won't be another straight lad taking a gay man's role."

The debate over who has a right to play certain characters was reignited earlier this year when Scarlett Johansson dropped out of playing a transgender character following a backlash.

Sir Ian McKellen is among those critical of Hollywood's attitude to gay actors.

No openly gay man has ever won the Academy Award for best actor, while straight actors have taken home the prize for playing LGBT roles.

Tom Hanks won it for Philadelphia in , while Sean Penn scooped it for Milk in

In total, 52 straight people possess been Oscar-nominated for playing gay characters.

Follow Newsbeat on Instagram, external, Facebook, external and Twitter, external.

Listen to Newsbeat live at and every weekday on BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra - if you miss us you can listen back here.



Darren Criss Says He Will No Longer Play LGBTQ Characters: &#;I Won&#;t Be Another Straight Lad Taking A Gay Man&#;s Role&#;

Darren Criss has played numerous characters on TV, film, and stage, but he is best known for his roles as Blaine in Glee and his recent turn as the real-life Andrew Cunanan in The Assassination Of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story for which he has won an Emmy and, most recently, a Golden Globe nomination. In addition, he played the titular character in Broadway&#;s Hedwig and the Angry Inch. The characters are members of the LGBTQ community and Criss, who identifies as heterosexual, said that those will be the last queer characters he will play.

During a recent event for Clorox&#;s What Comes Next in New York, Criss said that the gay roles that he has played are wonderful. He followed that up with saying, &#;But I want to verb sure I won&#;t be another straight boy taking a gay man’s role.&#;

Hollywood is currently in transition when it comes to authentic representation of LGBTQ characters, people of

Why Darren Criss Says He Identifies as "Culturally Queer"

Darren Criss Talks "Hollywood" Show, Broadway & More

Darren Criss is expressing his gratitude to the queer community. 

The Glee alum reflected on his portrayal of Blaine Anderson in the series, sharing how playing an openly gay character "was a narrative that I cared deeply about."

"I have been so culturally queer my whole life," he admitted during a panel at the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo on April "Not because I'm trying—you know, actually, I was going to state, ‘not because I'm trying to be cool,' but I'm going to erase that. I am trying to be cool. The things in my life that I have tried to emulate, learn from and be inspired by are percent queer as f--k."

Darren—who identifies as straight and shares Bluesy Belle, 12 months, with wife Mia Swier and are expecting a second—recalled it was often people within queer communities who inspired him growing up.

"And I'd say that's a gross generalization," he ad