Your character, Kurt, is the show’s fashionista and a key member of New Beginnings. How similar was your high school experience in Clovis, Calif.?
It was similar in the sense that I was definitely teased a lot in high school and I was definitely at the bottom of the food chain: total underdog, complete "Gleek." I was never like Kurt at all; I wish I was now that I watch the show, but I was never fashionable. I wish I was like Kurt in high school!
Were you in your high school drama club?
I was in drama, speech and debate, president of the writers' club, I was editor of our school's literary magazine ... I pretty much did everything.
You wrote, directed, and starred in a musical spoof of Sweeney Todd called Shirley Todd. What can you tell me about that?
The end of my senior year, my school did this thing for the seniors called the Senior Show where one senior was designated to do whatever he wanted for however much time on the stage -- they get their own show in a sense. All the other kids previous to me had done SNL-type skits and gags and that type of stuff. But I was dead serious that I wanted to do a show that would be funny and adult, so I wrote this spoof called Shirley Todd, which is Sweeney Todd except all the roles were gender-reversed, so I was Mr. Lovett rather than Mrs. Lovett, and it took place in modern-day punk-rock London. It was a lot of fun.
Were you out in high school?
Oh, no. People are killed in my hometown for that.
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This is from the advocate interview of Chris Colfer of Glee who is all of 19. He is speaking of California in 2008, not Mississippi in the 1960's. Is he exagerating a little, lets hope. But it has only been 11 years since Matthew died. Congrats to Chris both for his show and his courage. Can't wait until we can leave out the courage part for simply speaking the truth.
http://advocate.com/Arts_and_Entertainment/Television/Glees_Chris_Colfer__Just_one_of_the_guys/