Darren Everett Criss

Darren Criss is my favourite musical artist, my favourite actor, and my biggest idol. For now, let's just forget about the fact that I'm also head over heels for him because that's completely irrelevant. If you're following this blog, you probably know who he is (at least by name) but this post is just outlining how excited I am for/about him.

Darren Criss made his on-stage debut when he was just ten years old, in 42nd Street Moon's 1997 production of Fanny in the role of Cesario. Robin Williams, the voice of Genie in Aladdin, made him want to act. A voice in an animated movie. If that doesn't scream "amazing", then I don't know what does. He can play a variety of instruments that include violin, guitar, piano, cello, mandolin, and drums. Darren wrote his first song when he was fourteen and he later began attending the University of Michigan. He was just this dorky, Disney-loving, carefree guy with a million possibilities in front of him.

He met these people in university and they started writing nerdy plays and musicals, performing them at UMich. They're all adorable, hilarious people with outstanding talent. They won some money and threw together a webseries called Little White Lie, which they didn't post online until a much later date. At this time, he was still just this unknown guy who recorded himself singing Disney songs and posting them on YouTube under the username inspired by the cartoon character he created when he was eight.

In 2009, Harry Potter: The Musical was created, in which Darren Criss not only wrote half the songs but also starred as the one and only Harry Potter. They posted it online for friends who couldn't manage to see the show live. After getting into a few copyright issues, they took it down and re-posted it as A Very Potter Musical, cutting out a few inappropriate jokes here and there. They expected their friends, relatives and classmates to watch it. Never did they expect -- or even dream -- that it would become such an internet sensation. These friends began to call themselves StarkidPotter.

Almost immediately after they re-posted the Harry Potter parody, they also uploaded Little White Lie and received a very positive response. Darren Criss plays Toby Phillips, a down-to-earth guy with his eyes set on one of the main characters -- Sami -- but his availability stolen by Sami's rival, Tanya.

For 24 Hour Theatre, a challenge to write and rehearse four plays in 24 hours, Darren played the role of Dick in Me and My Dick. Afterwards, StarkidPotter decided they liked the idea so much that they'd clean it up and perform it properly as it's own musical. In November, they posted this musical on their YouTube account. It, too, quickly became popular. However, this time, Joe Walker took Darren's place.

Why? Because Darren was busy filming for a new television drama series called Eastwick. He was in five out of thirteen episodes, portraying a character named Josh Burton.

In April, Darren then guest-starred in an episode of Cold Case (titled Free Love), before returning to his friends (now an official acting company, Starkid) to work on A Very Potter Sequel. The sequel, it's music entirely written by Darren, was posted online in July 2010. Once again, he played Harry, and the musical was a complete success.

Around the same time, Darren released his debut EP on iTunes, which was produced in his bedroom. It contains five of his original songs: Human, Jealousy, Sami (written for LWL), Don't You and Not Alone. He performed quiet shows in coffee shops and street corners where anyone could stand by and listen, free of charge.

In November 2010, he appeared on Glee as an openly gay teen from a rival school, Dalton Academy, and Kurt's love interest. His version of Teenage Dream became Glee's most successful, fastest-selling single to date as Starkids swarmed in to buy it. I started watching Glee when Darren landed a part and I am now a proud member of the Glee fandom.

Darren's character, Blaine, is an inspiration to many people and Darren Criss is now officially a celebrity. A month into his new-found fame, he performed a show at The Roxy and asked people to bring along unused toys, which he then donated to the Toys For Tots charity. He recently attended the Golden Globes and stood on stage with the rest of the Glee cast as they accepted their award, and is now going to appear on the cover of Entertainment Weekly, alongside Chris Colfer (who plays Kurt).

This year, he is writing the music for another (original) Starkid production, Starship, will be working on Glee some more, and has plans to release a full-length, original album. He will also be taking part in the Glee UK Live Tour with the rest of the Glee cast. 

The main reason this man is such an inspiration to me is that, in less than two years, Darren Criss has gone from this random guy that makes goofy musicals with his friends to this fantastic, globally acknowledged actor on one of the most popular television series of all time. From July 2009 to January 2011, he's gone from a guy who sits in his bedroom singing Disney songs to the cover of one of the biggest American magazines. He's still just as humble and dorky and open as he was back then, and he's not afraid to rock those pink sunglasses and make nerdy references in interviews. He's still a fanboy, he's still new to fame, he's still the adorably hilarious guy we all know and fell in love with.

The point of this post? I'm not completely sure. I'm just so proud of Darren, of how far he's come and in such little time. I'm so excited for him, watching all these new experiences and opportunities take hold of him. It makes me so happy to see how much he's enjoying himself now, and to realise that fame hasn't affected his personalities or tamed his hilarious quirks in the slightest. I love him, he's my biggest inspiration, and he will be my favourite actor/musical artist for a long time to come.

Darren Criss, never change.