Christopher Paul "
Chris"
Colfer (born May 27, 1990 in
Fresno, California) is an American
dancer and
actor, best known for his role portraying
Kurt Hummel on
Glee.
Early life and education
At the age of fourteen, he was the assistant director for a benefit at Valley Children's Hospital. Colfer has had an interest in acting since high school where he performed in community as well as regional based theater. According to his
Glee profile at Fox.com, at
Clovis East High School he was involved with
Speech & Debate where he won "many speech and debate Champion titles", the
drama club, the
FFA, "was president of the Writer’s Club, editor of the school's literary magazine, and captain of
Destination ImagiNation."
[ Chris Colfer on Glee wiki Gleewiki on Fox.com, accessed 14 November 2009.] His love of acting and directing continued in high school when he wrote a spoof of "
Sweeney Todd" entitled "Shirley Todd" as a senior in high school, a play which he also starred in and directed that all the roles were
gender-reversed.
An experience that was later turned into a sub-plot for his character on
Glee was being denied each year by the high school teachers to sing "
Defying Gravity" from the musical
Wicked because it was traditionally performed by a woman.
His grandmother, a reverend, let him sing the song in her church.
[ Glee’s Chris Colfer Reveals Real-Life Story Behind Kurt’s Diva Moment People, November 12, 2009.]
Career
At the age of eighteen Colfer starred as Russel Fish in
Russel Fish: The Sausage and Eggs Incident. A short film where an awkward teenager must pass a
Presidential Physical Fitness test or fail
gym class and lose his admission to
Harvard University.
Colfer's first TV role came in 2009 when he was cast as
Kurt Hummel on
Fox's
Glee as a flamboyant and
vogue singer who is bullied by the school football team. Colfer has explained that Hummel "puts on a very confident, 'I'm better than you' persona, but underneath it all he's the same anxious and scared teen everyone is/was at some point. In later episodes, he goes through an identity crisis, accepting and finding acceptance for who he is. [...] He's a tough guy in designer clothes."
The character is also
gay which is a crux for many of his conflicts on the show. Colfer has a high vocal range, as displayed in the episode "
Wheels" where as his character he sings a "high F" for his love of his father, who was being harassed due to his son's sexuality.
Colfer is
openly gay and shared on
Access Hollywood that his parents were accepting of him but he was
bullied at school.
[ [1]][ Dish Of Salt: Who’s The Biggest Loser On ‘Glee’? Laura Saltman, Access Hollywood @2:30 ][ Just_one_of_the_guys/ Advocate.com: Just One of the Guys][ Glee's Chris Colfer Not Out After All? The Advocate, 1 November 2009.] He originally auditioned for the role of Artie with the song "
Mr Cellophane".
Though Glee's casting directors ultimately selected
Kevin Michael McHale for the part, they were so impressed by Colfer's audition they wrote the
Kurt Hummel character into the show as a vehicle for him.
Colfer commented on his casting, "It's good to have something positive, especially for kids in small towns, like myself, who need a little pick-me-up."
Filmography
