Christopher Paul "Chris" Colfer (born May 27, 1990) is an American actor and singer, known for his portrayal of Kurt Hummel on Glee, for which he has received several nominations and awards, including the Golden Globe award for Best Supporting Actor in 2011.

Early life and education
Colfer at the San Diego Comic-Con International, July 2010

Colfer was born in Clovis, California. While a student at Clovis East High School, Colfer was involved with the Speech & Debate program where he won "many speech and debate Champion titles," Including placing 9th in the State Competition for Dramatic Interpretation, the drama club, the FFA, "was president of the Writer’s Club, editor of the school's literary magazine, and captain of Destination ImagiNation." As a high school senior, he wrote, starred in, and directed a spoof of Sweeney Todd entitled "Shirley Todd", in which all of the roles were gender-reversed. One of his real in-school experiences was later turned into a sub-plot for his character on Glee, when the high school teachers denied him the chance to sing "Defying Gravity" from the musical Wicked because it is traditionally sung by a woman. His grandmother, a minister, let him sing the song in her church.

Career

When he was younger, he also starred in a version of 'The Sound of Music' as the character 'Kurt'. At the age of eighteen, Colfer starred as Russel Fish in Russel Fish: The Sausage and Eggs Incident, a short film where an awkward teenager must pass a Presidential Physical Fitness test or fail gym class and lose his admission to Harvard University.

Colfer's first TV role came in 2009 when he was cast as Kurt Hummel on Fox's Glee as a gay singer who is bullied by the school football team. Kurt Hummel was created specifically for Colfer and the show's creator, Ryan Murphy, had to scrap another planned character called "Rajish" so they could add Hummel. Colfer has explained that Hummel "puts on a very confident, 'I'm better than you' persona, but underneath it all he's the same anxious and scared teen everyone is/was at some point. In later episodes, he goes through an identity crisis, accepting and finding acceptance for who he is. [...] He's a tough guy in designer clothes." The character is also gay, which is at the crux of many of his conflicts on the show. Colfer has a high vocal range, as displayed in the episode "Wheels", in which his character demonstrates the unusual ability (for a man) of singing a "high F" (an F5). However, his character deliberately pretends to be unable to sing the note in order to spare his father the harassment he would receive for having a gay son.

Chris Colfer appeared at the 2010 MTV VMAs on September 12, 2010.

Colfer won a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television for his role in Glee in 2011.

Colfer will star in the coming-of-age comedy Struck by Lightning that has been set up with David Permut (Youth in Revolt). Colfer also wrote the script for Lightning, which is to be shot during the Glee hiatus in the summer of 2011.

Personal life

Colfer is openly gay and shared on Access Hollywood that his parents were accepting of him but he was frequently bullied at school. He originally auditioned for the role of Artie with the song "Mr. Cellophane" but Kevin McHale was selected for the role. However, the casting directors were so impressed by Colfer that they wrote the Kurt Hummel character into the show as a vehicle for him. Colfer commented on his casting, "It's good to have something positive, especially for kids in small towns, like myself, who need a little pick-me-up." Kurt Hummel has gone on to become an audience favorite. Colfer's sister, Hannah, suffers from severe epilepsy, and often experiences over fifty seizures in an hour. Colfer has commented that when he was younger he used acting as a method of escaping the stress involved with having a family member with disabilities.

Colfer appeared on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross talk show on June 18, 2010, along with his fellow Glee co-stars Amber Riley and Matthew Morrison. He demonstrated his skill with a pair of sai, revealing that he bought a pair of them on eBay and regularly practices in his trailer when not shooting.

Отредактировано bumerbmw (12.03.2011 15:10)