Darren Criss has decided that he will no longer play gay characters. Why? Because he doesnt want to be a straight actor taking potential roles from actors who actually identify as gay, he said in a recent interview with Bustle.
“There are certain [queer] roles that Ill see that are just wonderful,” he explained. “But I want to make sure I wont be another straight boy taking a gay mans role.”
Its quite a statement from the Emmy-winning actor, who is perhaps best known for playing queer characters including Blaine Anderson in Glee, Andrew Cunanan in The Assassination of Gianni Versace (for which he won a best-actor Emmy this year), and the titular role of Hedwig in the Broadway musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Though Criss said its “been a real joy” to perform in projects like those, hes no longer comfortable playing these parts.
“The reason I say that is because getting to play those characters is inherently a wonderful dramatic experience,” he said. “It has made for very, very compelling and interesting people.”
As Bustle points out, some audiences consider it problematic when straight actors play queer characters, especially considering the general dearth of queer narratives in film and on television. Timothée Chalamet and Armie Hammer, for example, got some flack for starring in Call Me by Your Name, a romantic drama based on the André Aciman novel of the same name. (Critics also accused the film of minimizing the explicit sexual content featured in Acimans original story.)
Criss has spoken candidly about playing gay characters in the past, saying in a Vulture interview earlier this year that he feels “very blessed in my career with being allowed in the gay community.”
“Its been such a huge part of my life, even pre-Glee. I come from San Francisco doing theater, man. Like, I was raised by gay men. Not literally at home, but you know, as a young kid doing theater, my friends were these men and women in their 20s, driving me home and getting me dinner. These were my adult figures in my life, so unconsciously Ive always had such affection for the life, whatever that means. So I guess inhabiting a gay voice is important to me because its a voice that I find inspiring.”
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Yohana DestaYohana Desta is a Hollywood writer for VanityFair.com.
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