Chris Colfer is looking back at publicly coming out as gay.
While appearing on The View on Tuesday (June 4), the 34-year-old actor and author recalled being told not to come out as gay when he was first cast in Glee as Kurt Hummel.
Keep reading to find out more…“I grew up in a very conservative town where being openly gay was dangerous,” Chris explained. “I remember when I got on the show, the role was written for me, but I did not know what the role was going to be.”
“So, I opened the script and when I read the script for the first time is when I saw that it was an openly gay character,” Chris continued.
Chris admitted that he was “terrified” when he first accepted the role on Glee because he hadn’t come out yet.
When I started filming the show, I had a lot of people tell me, ‘Do not come out, whatever you do, because it will ruin your career,’” Chris recalled being told.
Chris remained in the closet for some time after that, but he started telling those who advised him to stay quiet, “I can’t hide it.”
“They said, ‘Don’t worry as long as you never address it, you’ll be rewarded for it in the end,’” Chris said.
Chris said he was eventually inspired to come out after a young fan secretly slipped him an envelope during a Glee poster signing tour.
“I opened it up and there was a little note that said, ‘Thank you’ and there was a little paperclip chain that was in the colors of the rainbow. In that moment I knew, I have to come out,” Chris recalled.
He continued, “At the time, I was thinking if I’m an openly gay actor I may never win a major award and I may never get to play a superhero, but I think being a beacon of positivity and providing comfort for people is way more important.”
In an interview from a 2022, Chris threw some major shade at one of his former Glee co-stars.