Darren Criss Explains Why He Feels Like He's 'Culturally Queer'

Darren Criss says hes queer at heart.

The straight, cisgender actor explained why he gravitates toward gay characters during the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo on Saturday, where he told audiences that he has been culturally queer my whole life.

At a panel discussion reported on by Entertainment Weekly , Criss talked about getting his start on the turn-of-the-2010s show Glee, which broke ground with how it depicted LGBTQ relationships on the small screen.

It was fucking awesome, he said of playing Blaine Anderson, a high school a capella singer who was the partner of glee club standout Kurt Hummel, played by Chris Colfer.

Nowadays, we just call it a relationship on TV, Criss explained. But to contextualize it, a gay relationship on mainstream Fox, thats a pretty cool thing to be a part of.

I have been so culturally queer my whole life, he went on. Not because Im trying you know, actually, I was gonna say not because Im trying to be cool but Im gonna erase that, because I am trying to be cool. The things in my life that I have tried to emulate, learn from and be inspired by are 100% queer as fuck.

It was in queer communities that Ive found people that I idolize, that I want to learn something from, the star explained. And Id say thats a gross generalization, thats a lot of things and a lot of people.

But I grew up in San Francisco in the 90s. I watched men die, he continued. There was an awareness of the gay experience that was not a foreign concept to me. So, it was a narrative that I cared deeply about.

While Criss said its been an honor to represent queer people on-screen, he made a pledge to stop taking roles as gay characters in 2018.

There are certain [queer] roles that Ill see that are just wonderful, he told Bustle at the time. But I want to make sure I wont be another straight boy taking a gay mans role.

Criss has won high acclaim for his depiction of queer characters, winning a best actor Emmy for the role of serial killer Andrew Cunanan on 2018s The Assassination of Gianni Versace.

He also led the stage musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch, playing the titular transgender glam rocker during a 2014 tour and 2015 Broadway run.