Parade wrote: After Glee and an Emmy Win, Darren Criss Shares 'What Comes Next' December 14, 2018
It was Criss’ charisma that led Glee co-creator Ryan Murphy to the actor for this year’s breakout role as Andrew Cunanan, the narcissistic serial killer whose ’90s murder spree included the killing of Gianni Versace. “I just knew he had the ability to go dark,” Murphy told the New York Times.
Over nine episodes of the FX crime anthology
American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace,
Criss’ performance was revelatory. “We’re exploring such a complex and complicated character, which really gets to utilize all the things that actors wake up for in the morning,” he told Parade. “Your canvas is huge, and your palette is so vast—you’re not playing with primary colors, you’re playing with hues of every imaginable color on the wheel, and that’s the kind of thing that all actors dream of doing.”
We caught up with the 31-year-old, who is gathering accolades and nominations aplenty this awards season, to talk finding common ground with a serial killer, the phenomenon that was Glee, and launching an initiative with Clorox that’s supporting young community leaders through $75,000 in grants, called “The What Comes Next Project.”
Thanks to a transfixing performance in American Crime Story, you’re now an Emmy winner! And recently nominated for both a Golden Globe and a SAG award. Would you consider this role to be your best to date?
I’ve been lucky enough that every time I’ve had a job, I feel like it’s the greatest job that I’ve ever had. They’re all just unique to themselves because they appeal to different people. But his one has an unfair advantage. It has a mix of things that I’m sort of not in control of. One, it’s an amazing story. It checks a lot of really perfect boxes for an audience. It has all the classic makings of things that have interested us for hundreds, if not thousands of years—it’s very Greek, it’s Shakespeare, it’s sex, it’s glamour, it’s murder, it’s drama. It’s all the things that titillate our darkest, perverse hearts and appetites, you know?
But it also talks about very real social issues and touches upon very important questions that I believe have significance to audiences now. So we’re not exploiting a story for the sake of spectacle—
there’s substance there, there’s something that is worth discussion, and that’s really important to me.And the supporting cast and team.
That’s not even mentioning the people involved! The writers, the people behind camera, obviously the stellar cast, the world curated by Ryan Murphy—all these sort of titans of industry throwing in their best work to create it.
And then there’s the fact that Ryan Murphy has the profile and cache that people will actually watch the show. When you’re dealing with him, you’re dealing with an A-team that is ensuring that the work you’re doing will be seen, and that’s a nice thing to know. Just to be a part of a project that kind of checks all of those boxes is such a luxury and such a privilege. There’s a lot of reasons to be thankful. So I guess in that regard, it really was one of the most fortuitous roles of my life.
[ . . . ]
After Glee, a phenomenon for many people, what changed?
I think it’s less to do with the fact that it was known around the world, and more to do with the fact that the people interested in it are very enthusiastic. Had I been on an equally successful cop drama that was a little more adult, I wonder if the engagement may have been different, even though the exposure might have been the same? So you never really know. I was lucky enough to be part of a teen phenomenon that harnesses a raw unbridled power that comes once in a blue moon.
Riding that wave was a wild ride. And sure, that sort of changed things, but [
American Crime Story] has been such a stride for me. This show appeals to a lot of people completely different than [the
Glee] demographic. And I finally get to connect with a lot of people that I felt very distanced from for a long time.
I think that this show has given me a new lease on life on their radars—a lot of people who wouldn’t have known me from Adam are now familiar with my work, and I can’t even describe that feeling.
Outside of your Broadway, television and film career, you’re also helping launch the “What Comes Next Project” with Clorox. Why were you attracted to this initiative?Well, I will say that any kind of brand alignment for actors or people with a public position, is something that I’ve always been very wary of. But Clorox presented this idea, and it was sort of a no-brainer. They’re highlighting young people who are working as leaders in their communities to create some kind of positive change through the power of cleaning. I think it’s the artist in me that is always looking for the things behind what we see on the surface. You think of Clorox, and you think cleaning products, but I really admire the idea that they were chasing the more profound value beyond the immediate utility of what the company is known for.
In talking with some of these young leaders, how were you inspired by what they’re bringing to their communities?
These are all people who are using cleaning to really start anew, help people create a new canvas for success and for fulfillment. They’re embracing this notion that a simple thing can go quite a long way. Things that a lot of us who have these basic human resources at our disposal kind of take for granted—just how much having a pair of clean clothes can affect your day to day life, how a clean working space or living space really affects the way we view ourselves and what we bring to society. And that’s something I was very moved by. I’ve always been a proponent of leadership, and in light of the holidays, it’s a nice healthy dose of inspiration in the spirit of giving back.