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 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.
Theater is a living creature. It takes a while to break in, like a new pair of shoes.
I always make time for the things that are important to me.
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.
The cool thing about music is no one can take music away from you, writing wise.
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 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'm in the U.K. I find myself using a lot of Britishisms.
Hollywood is a strange, strange thing. I feel like I've been invited to a very exclusive ball and I'm just trying to make nice with everybody and hope that if they kick me out they'll at least give me a ride home.
I believe singing should be like being an actor. People shouldn't have any problem buying an actor being in a comedy or a drama or a horror film. That should be the same way with music.