I’ve added the first pictures of Chris at the Emmys to the galleries. Keep your fingers crossed for him, I really hope he gets the Emmy!

Home > Public Appearances > 2011 Primetime Emmys (Arrivals) – September 18, 2011

At only 21 years old, Glee star Chris Colfer has easily earned his status as an over-achiever. With a Golden Globe Award and two Emmy nominations under his belt, he was also named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in 2011 and is working on his first book, a kids novel called The Land of Stories.

He is also making his movie debut alongside Christina Hendricks and Allison Janney in the film Struck by Lightning, which he wrote the screenplay for.

Taking a break from plugging away on his laptop, Colfer chatted with PARADE about his Emmy nomination, the future of Glee, and why he doesn’t get all the fuss about his character’s looming graduation from McKinley High.

For Emmys night, are you writing a speech jut in case?
“No! I didn’t have anything prepared for the Golden Globes speech and I was honestly shocked I could even form words. It is such an adrenaline rush. It feels like you’re going on a thousand roller coasters at once. Even if I wrote something, I couldn’t imagine functionally getting that paper out of my pocket, out of my lapel and recite something. Everything is such a blur. So I don’t like preparing anything beforehand. If I get up there and can speak, hopefully I thank the right people.”

 

Why are you taking your grandmother this year?
“I took my mom last year and I took my best friend Ashley Fink to the Golden Globes. I think it’ll be fun and she’s never been to anything like that.”

Where do you keep your Golden Globe?
“I have it in the middle of a stand that I keep in my entertainment room.”

Right in the middle of the room?
“It is! It’s crazy. I just bought a house and have this cove. The stairs wrap around it and it’s the perfect place to keep awards. I couldn’t imagine what anyone else would do with that area besides display things so my SAG Award is there, my Teen Choice award is there, and GLAAD Awards, TV Guide, all my awards and nomination certificates are there hanging and framed. I have one self-obsessed area in my house.”

Screenwriter, novelist, TV and movie star — anything else you’d like to add to your resume?
“Maybe Disney imagineer, but I think I’m good. I’m just trying to strike while the iron is hot. There are a lot of things that I’ve always wanted to do and Ben Franklin had the quote, ‘Why do tomorrow what you can do today?’ and I just kind of took that to heart. ”

Would you ever want to go behind the camera?
“It’s tricky because whenever I write or read something I’m incredibly visual. Like when I read the scripts I can practically see shots, the camera angle and all that in my head, but I never really wanted to direct. That’s never really my thing. I produce, I love to write. I love to write. That’s really my thing. I think that’s my true passion. Writing and character and portraying it. It has to be very, very near and dear to my heart to ever want to direct anything. Like if I got called to direct a Wicked movie but other than that, I have no interest.”

Do you ever get writer’s block?
“I do. Actually I’m sitting on my bed with my computer open. I don’t have writer’s block in the sense that I know what the story is, I know who the characters are, I know what they look like, I know what’s going to happen. Just putting it to words is a problem that I have. Screenwriting and novel writing are so completely different — and I never assumed that they wouldn’t be — but I noticed writing a novel, it’s like right before you take a trip, and then you get there and it looks completely different than how you imagined and then it’s the same. That’s how writing is. I’ve always seen things visually but describing it is the hard part.”

Since some of you are graduating at the end of the season, has the atmosphere on the Glee set changed?
“It’s funny because for us, it feels exactly the same from when we filmed the first thirteen episodes of season one. We are in such a Glee bubble of dance rehearsals and pre-records over and over again. We don’t really get a chance to stop and think things are different. It’s always funny how the outside world always go, ‘Oh, things are going to be different’ and we’re like ‘Why, how?’”

Do people confuse you with your character, Kurt?
“Sometimes, but honestly the biggest similarity is that we look alike. I’m not fashionable, and he stops traffic with what he wears — not in a good way.”

Has Kurt chosen his prom outfit yet?
“No, but I’m looking forward to his graduation gown. That should be a spectacle. He might BeDazzle it.”

Will Blaine be his prom date?
“I guess. I can’t imagine him taking anyone else. People ask me if they think Kurt and Blaine will be together forever and I’m like, ‘Well, they don’t really have a choice.’ It’s kind of like they’re either together or just lonely.”

Have the Glee Project winners started yet? Have you been able to haze them yet?
“No, we’re all so tired that we don’t have the energy to come up with hazing ideas. But I’m all for hazing if we decide do.”

Do you feel pressure to be a role model?
“Sometimes. A lot of that is also because a lot of people respect Kurt so much and put Kurt in that light. A lot of times people put me on a pedestal I do not deserve. Sometimes it’s hard for me because I do put a lot of pressure on myself because I know there are little kids in Iowa and Nebraska that don’t have too many people to look up to.”

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I saw your recent tweet about doing something dangerous and “life threatening.” Can you elaborate?
I performed a big, flashy number [while shooting an episode of Glee], and I was doing some of the most dangerous things that I’ve ever done on the show. I requested an ambulance on standby. I don’t think we got that, but I had a medic, and I made a lot of people nervous.

Does this mean you get to show off your sai skills?
Maybe… But much more than that.

How did you start doing ninjutsu?
Growing up watching the Ninja Turtles, I always wanted to be one. I had my first job in high school, working at my cousin’s dry cleaners. [I saved] a little bit of money and thought, I’m gonna buy some swords!

If you could do Ninja Turtles on Broadway, who else would you want in the cast?
I would have to cast my friend Ashley Fink as April because she is even more obsessed with the Turtles than me. Then Meryl Streep as Shredder, Robin Williams as Splinter and me as Raphael. I think people would see that show.

You once said you were a social llama in high school, and you’re also a Harry Potter fan. So which animal would be your Patronus?
Here’s what I’ve determined: It would either be llama or a sea monkey.

Why those two?
I’ve felt like a llama my entire life, like, walking around the farm, thinking, Who do I hang out with? I’m not good enough for the horses, I’m a little above the goats.… And I think sea monkeys because sea monkeys are just so cool. I’ve always been fascinated by them, and not too many people know what they are.

Either one would surprise people.
Right?!? If you see a big sea monkey coming toward you, you’re not gonna know what the heck it is. You’re going to think it’s an alien when, really, it’s just a sea monkey that you can buy at any local Target.

Kurt and Blaine’s relationship was an important story line on the last season of Glee. How has it affected the way you play the character?
I think it takes away from Kurt’s loneliness. He has someone to confide in and someone who knows exactly what he’s going through. He has someone to love, and I think that’s what everyone’s striving for—gay, straight, bi or llama.

There’s been a lot of drama in the press lately about you and your character leaving the show. If you called the shots, what would Kurt do after graduation?
I’m still campaigning for Kurt to become the editor-in-chief of Kurtin magazine, which would combine, of course, theater, art and fashion. But we’ll see…

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They’re only MQ for now, but I’ll hopefully have the HQs up soon!

Home > TV Appearances > Tonight Show with Jay Leno – September 07, 2011