Chris Colfer's Kurt Hummel - Where does Ryan Murphy End and the Character Begin?

Jazz hands don't tell the whole story.

Warning: This post discusses some plot points involving the character of Kurt.

Much has been made of the archetypes on Glee. The sassy black girl. The jock.

The “fashionable soprano” is how Chris Colfer describes his character Kurt Hummel, but that’s really just the sound bite. The reality runs a lot deeper for both Colfer and for Glee's executive producer Ryan Murphy.

The out Murphy seems to have found a kindred spirit in Colfer. After turning him down for the role of Artie, Murphy decided to create a role just for Colfer:

“When we started auditioning, I thought it was kind of ridiculous that we’re doing a musical about kids and expression and we don’t have the gay point of view. I thought it was important, but I would never want Chris to feel weird. More than the gay thing, he understood the thing about being the outsider because he felt that way in high school and I told him we were going to tap into that.”

Colfer wasn’t precisely thrilled upon finding out that his character was gay. He was more fearful than anything else, having grown up in Clovis, CA, a farm community that he says still has “Yes on 8” signs in the yard to this day. Colfer says, “I was made fun of a lot in high school because of the way I sound and the way I was. I was a lone duck in a swan-filled pond who criticized everyone.”

Colfer's personality seems to just explode out of him.

Neither Murphy or Colfer is offering up any information on the barely-19 year old star’s actual sexuality. If anything, they’re reminding you that the character isn’t a young Colfer – it’s a young Murphy.

Growing up in Indianapolis, the son of a beauty queen and a semi-pro hockey player, Murphy asked his parents for a Vogue subscription at age 5, was ironing his own clothes at 7, and came out to his dad at 15.

Having a dad that loves you as a young man is a very powerful thing that you carry into the world. Because no matter what you do, in some weird, unconscious way, if you’re a guy, you always try to please your dad. I think it’s a great thing to put on television. You’ve seen the gay character that gets kicked out of the house or is beaten up. You haven’t seen the gay character that is teased a little bit, but wins and triumphs.

Triumph is going to be part of Kurt’s character throughout: the emotionally powerful scene on September 23, where Kurt comes out to his father, is lifted directly from Murphy’s life, other than the Beyonce dance routine. And since Murphy triumphed, so does Kurt.

Murphy says, “I’ve done other shows with gay characters, and I will say that in many of those cases, the gay characters didn’t have happy endings. And I thought you know what? Enough.”

Murphy seems to be promising a happy ending for a change.

Regardless, Colfer has the support of his Hollywood father, Murphy, and of his own mother, who says, “To put it bluntly, I don’t know if my son is gay or not. But if it ever came out that he is, he would still have his dad and myself and our support and love in everything he does in life.”

Comedy goddess Jane Lynch thinks Colfer is the breakout star of the show.

So yes, much has been made of Kurt being a walking, singing stereotype. We’ve expressed some reservations ourselves. The clothes (today on Bonnie Hunt, Colfer said half the show’s budget went to his designer clothes, including a full-length, see-through Dolce & Gabana raincoat that I’m dying to see), the voice, and the confident self-possession Kurt has. But since all stereotypes are founded in some truth, we should remember that this one is founded in Ryan Murphy’s life.

Is that a designer jacket, Mr. Murphy?

“There’s probably more of Kurt in me than I’m willing to admit, but I really wish I could be more like Kurt,” Colfer said. “I wish I could walk into a room and have that Ryan Murphy air of superiority about me.”

The full interview appears in the L.A. Times.