17008 replies to this topic

[Stephen87]

Since it appears that a probable majority seems to like Glee's latest heartthrob I decided to ahead and make a new topic about Darren Criss who plays Blaine, Kurt's out and proud new friend and confidant and possibly future boyfriend.

Gadget: Let's keep the thread mainly focused on Blaine/Darren as it relates to the show, please. Thanks!

Edited by TWoP Howard, Mar 16, 2013 @ 5:48 PM.
Grammar tweaks

[LinTV]

Blaine: Totally Awesome (this one only works if you've seen A Very Potter Musical.....which you should, if you haven't already. Like, right now. Go.)

Blaine: He'll Be Your Teenage Dream

[CoyoteBlue]

"Well, he's not coming out any time soon."

Man, I loved his delivery on that, and took him out of Gay Yoda Zen mode for me.

[firesermon]

Love him! And I've been a Very Potter Musical fan since this summer, so it's fantastic to see him getting some mainstream recognition. He has a nice voice and great comic timing. I just hope that his character will eventually gain some depth beyond Kurt's saintly gay mentor.

[Turkish]

I fell for the actor when I saw an interview he did to promote his appearance on the show. I found Blaine totally engaging in the same way that Jesse was when he first showed up. I actually found myself thinking "Can we just replace Sam, Puck or Artie with him?". He was that enjoyable for me. However, I can't see how the show could keep him around for a long period of time unless he transfers to Mckinley like Jesse briefly did.

[Screamie]

IMO - I think he's the savior that can eclipse Groff's absence of male charisma (other than Colfer's obvious awesomeness.) Just in case someone hasn't seen it, this is Darren's youtube page. He seems to love Disney songs, his take on "Belle" is especially good.

I'm really excited to see what will happen next. I usually don't say that with this show. I think I really like him because he's a rare thing that makes Kurt happy (if not a little stalkerish.) Sooooo anticipating their Christmas duet. The preview sounds beautiful.

[hgalve]

Love Darren Criss. The thing is I’ve never really seen him truly act before. I mean I love him in AVPM and AVPS but that usually requires him to be goofy and OTT so I had no idea what to expect with him playing this role. I’m so happy to find out that he’s wonderful and a genuinely good actor. His "Well, he's not coming out soon." line was delivered perfectly and he was totally working that uniform. I look forward to seeing more of him. Let's just hope his character is treated better than Groff's Jesse was.

[toasterdeath]

"Well, he's not coming out any time soon."

Man, I loved his delivery on that, and took him out of Gay Yoda Zen mode for me.

Agreed. I kept waiting for more personality and that gave us a little flash of it (and the way Darren was leaning against the wall + his facial expression sold it too). I think I'm going to like his character a lot if they give him more to work with beyond being Kurt's Gay Yoda. Don't get me wrong, I think Darren Criss (who I'm not familiar with aside from Glee) did really well with what they gave him, I just want more of a sense of who Blaine is, his sense of humor, etc.

[AthenaLeStrange]

Am I the only Darren Criss fangirl that squeed a bit when Blaine told the jock "You're not alone!"

I could hear the chorus of "Not Alone" playing in my head, seeing a beautiful redhead singing to him...

[Montavilla]

I've enjoyed Darren Criss ever since seeing AVPM last year. He's funny, with a great sense of joy and positivity.

If you want to see him do film acting (as opposed to the stage work in the Potter musicals), you can check out the Eastwick series that ran last year. He was a love interest for one of the witches' daughter for a couple episodes.

He was also in a Starkid web series called Little White Lie. It's not a great part -- he's basically just there to be a dreamboat -- but he does well with it.

It's unfortunate that Blaine doesn't have a last name yet. If he did, I'd suggest "Blaine 'Freakin'' <last name>" for the thread title.

I do like the suggestions upthread, especially "Totally Awesome." I like the reference to HP, because it works on two levels. There's the whole Darren Criss/Harry Potter musical connection AND the Blaine going to Gay Hogwarts thing.

[AvrilShowers]

Darren is Super-Mega-Foxy-Awesome-Hot, and I'll watch just for him.

[ReadIshmael]

Oh, man, he is adorable. He's so caring and sweet and supportive. I loved him immediately.

[toasterdeath]

Looks like we'll be seeing more of Blaine for awhile:

'Glee' To Promote Darren Criss To Regular
By MICHAEL AUSIELLO, TV Columnist | Wednesday November 10, 2010 @ 12:14pm PST

EXCLUSIVE: Darren Criss is hitting all the right notes with his new Glee bosses. Hot on the heels of his well-received debut last night as Kurt's gay role model Blaine, the actor/singer/songwriter is in talks to become a full-fledged series regular. Criss — whose biggest pre-Glee role was an arc on ABC’s short-lived Eastwick — initially came on board the Fox hit as a recurring. Criss' Glee promotion would likely kick in at the start of the show's already-greenlit third season.

Source

[LinTV]

That's amazing! I'm so excited for Darren.

I wonder if they'll eventually have Blaine transfer to McKinley and be part of New Directions. It wouldn't be very easy from a writer's perspective to have him as a regular and have to keep going over to Dalton (I forget exactly where Dalton is, but it's a decent distance away from Lima - Kurt could not be making that trip every day).

[billeh]

Hell yes! I don't care what they do to make this happen as long as it does actually happen. I love Darren and want him to be a regular!

[ShadowDenizen]

Well, that's spectacular news about the bump to series regular! He really hit the cover of "Teenage Dream" out of the park!

Darren really does just ooze charisma. And looking at his Youtube channel, and (re)watching AVPM makes me like him even more. He totally comes across as an "everyman" (Albeit a freakishly hot one!!)

Also, I'm sure most DC fans are aware, but he does have an EP available on itunes. (Wish they'd put out some of the other covers he did; as mentioed, he does a really good interpretation of "Belle".)

[stele3]

Great to hear about Criss' potential promotion. W/r/t his incorporation into the storyline at Lima--isn't he a senior at Dalton? So next year he could have graduated and maybe, say, be doing outreach and advocacy in the Ohio school system, including Lima. He seems like that kind of do-gooder.

That could lead to some issues if he's doing outreach through the school and also (perhaps?) dating one of the students. Oh why lookee there, potential storyline!

[Jane007]

Blaine is junior since RIB shrank Kurt's age over the summer. I am very excited to hear about Darren's possible promotion, does this mean he will be recurring ala Harry for the rest of the season too?

[Thailog]

RIB shrank Kurt's age over the summer.

What do you mean?

[StillCookin]

Happy to see Darren got his own thread, especially now that rumors have him becoming a series regular.
I wanted to ask about this particular photo of Darren - does anyone know if this is a new image from Glee or something old? The hair looks on the short side which makes me lean "new" but the costume threw me for a loop.

Also, just to see if I got this right, the episodes we currently know Darren will be on are 2x07, 2x09 and 2x10, right?

ETA:

I think that picture is from when Darren played Mr Wickham in a production of Pride and Prejudice.

OK, that makes sense, thanks!
I can't wait until we get some set pics of Darren from upcoming episodes. So curious to see where they take his storyline now that it seems it isn't limited to 3-4 eps.

Edited by StillCookin, Nov 11, 2010 @ 6:43 AM.

[billeh]

I think that picture is from when Darren played Mr Wickham in a production of Pride and Prejudice.

[darkestboy]

Glad Blaine has a thread but I am hoping that he's not a Jesse Mark 2. Let him be a positive influence for Kurt.

[jediylva]

Ok. I have a confession to make.
I've been watching or only listening the "Teenage Dream" clip on YouTube ALL day long.
Throughout work today I have clicked on that "play" button, worked, gone back to that window, clicked again, then back to work. And so on.
I'm obsessed.
I'm pathetic.
But it's so damn good.

Confession over. You may laugh at me.

[StillCookin]

Confession over. You may laugh at me.

You'll hear no laughter from me, I'm pretty much in the same spot. But judging by the current iTunes placing of the song (#1) and mostly by the HUGE gap in popularity... I'm thinking we're not alone in this obsession.

[DivineBovine]

Blaine is junior since RIB shrank Kurt's age over the summer. I am very excited to hear about Darren's possible promotion, does this mean he will be recurring ala Harry for the rest of the season too?

This was mentioned in an interview with Chris, but has it ever been explicitly confirmed by the producers?

[Cylelle]

I don't know anything specifically about Kurt's age changing, but I do recall that the first press on Blaine described him explicitly as being a 'junior' and 'a year older than Kurt'. If that helps...

(Kurt was stated to be 16 in Acafellas, Laryngitis and Theatricality, btw. :) )

Edited by Cylelle, Nov 11, 2010 @ 6:06 PM.

[SevenSolis]

I had to laugh at the way this guy talks. Who uses the word "taunted"? Though that did bring to mind: "Starkid Potter! Moonshoes Potter! Traversing the galaxy for intergalactic travels to Pigfarts!"

[DivineBovine]

I don't know anything specifically about Kurt's age changing, but I do recall that the first press on Blaine described him explicitly as being a 'junior' and 'a year older than Kurt'. If that helps...

(Kurt was stated to be 16 in Acafellas, Laryngitis and Theatricality, btw. :) )

Yeah, as much as I adore Blaine (his scenes with Kurt were amazing), I don't want them to retcon Kurt just to have this storyline.

[Cylelle]

Is High School 15-18?

If so, I guess they can just discount Acafellas and have it that Kurt is currently 16, having had his birthday somewhere in the spring (Laryngitis had Jesse missing on Spring Break with his VA friends).

A six month shift wouldn't be too bad.

[PoemJunkie]

If so, I guess they can just discount Acafellas and have it that Kurt is currently 16, having had his birthday somewhere in the spring (Laryngitis had Jesse missing on Spring Break with his VA friends).

Except Kurt's Dad gave him a Lincoln Navigator for his sweet sixteen in Acafellas. It's possible he hasn't turned 17 yet, but I doubt it. Acafellas was episode three in season one, making Kurt's birthday fairly early into the school year.

ETA: I'm apparently dumb and shouldn't skim, since you clearly say they could just dicount Acafellas. But just to say, I hate when shows disregard established canon. There's no reason that Blaine and Kurt can't be the same age. If they want to make him older, make Kurt a junior and Blaine a senior. It would be much more palatable for me to disregard what the press said (after all, spoilers are hardly reliable on this show anyway) and stick with show canon.

Edited by PoemJunkie, Nov 11, 2010 @ 8:48 PM.