“Glee” Star Chris Colfer Just Revealed That He Was Repeatedly Warned Not To Come Out As Gay Because It’d “Ruin” His Career, But He Decided It Was “More Important” To Be A Role Model

For context, Glee premiered in 2009 and ran until 2015, with Chris just 19 years old when he landed the role. 

Speaking on the And That’s What You REALLY Missed podcast, Chris recalled: “When I found out they had written this character for me, I was thrilled. When I finally got the script is when I realized it was the gay character, and I was terrified.”

He went on to explain that his hometown of Clovis, California, was a “dangerous” place to be openly gay, adding: “Kids would get beat up. On one occasion, someone got stabbed on their way to school. Being out and proud was not an option.”

So when he was cast in Glee, Chris said that playing a gay character was considered so taboo that one family member even told him not to accept the role because it would “ruin” his life.

“I grew up in a very conservative town where being openly gay was dangerous,” he said. “I remember when I got on the show, the role was written for me, and I did not know what the role was gonna be. So I opened the script, and when I read the script for the first time was when I saw that it was an openly gay character, and I was terrified.”

“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.’ So I hid for a little bit,” Chris continued. "But I also told them: ‘I can’t hide it with my voice, I’m more effeminate than most people, I can’t hide it.’ And they said: ‘Don’t worry. As long as you never address it, you’ll be rewarded for it in the end.’” 

“We went on this big poster signing tour right before the show came out, and this little boy secretly slid me an envelope when his parents weren’t looking, and I opened it up, and it was a little note that said, ‘Thank you,'" he shared. "And there was a little paperclip chain that was the colors of the rainbow, and in that moment, I knew I have to come out.”

“At the time, I was thinking: ‘OK, yeah, if I’m an openly gay actor, I may never win a major award, I may never get to play a superhero,’” Chris said. “But I think being a beacon of positivity and providing that comfort for people is way more important than attention.”

In fact, the star was even nominated for the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Emmy twice during his tenure on the show, and is now a hugely successful author.