"Entertainment Weekly" Says "Glee"'s Chris Colfer is "Unequivocally ... the heart of the series"

After watching next week's preview clip of Glee doing Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream" and noting the myriad of expressions crossing Kurt Hummel's face, I turned to my partner and said "Chris Colfer has officially become one of the break-out stars of the show."

Either I'm prescient or the editor's over at Entertainment Weekly were eavesdropping on me as the Nov. 12 issue features a story called "Chris Colfer Makes Some Noise." These days, any noises besides belting out songs like "Bad Romance" or "Kurt's Song," the only sounds the Emmy-nominated Colfer must be making are ones of joy. 

And articles like this are why.

About Colfer, EW says, "Whether taking the lead on Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" or coming to his mechanic father, Burt (Mike O'Malley), Colfer has turned into Glee's musical and emotional showstopper."

Given all of Kurt's great amazing numbers from Beyonce's "Single Ladies" to his version of "Rose's Turn" to his recent rendition of "Le Jazz Hot," its hard to argue that a poll of Glee's best musical numbers wouldn't have a fair bit of Colfer representation.

But EW notes that Kurt has become something much more important and significant as well:

Kurt has unequivocally become the heart of the series and, amid a recent flare-up in gay-teen bullying and suicides across the country, one of the most socially important characters on television. Says Colfer: "With all due respect to my castmates, they don't get the letters I get -- the letters that not only say 'I'm your biggest fan' but also 'Kurt saved my life' and 'Kurt doesn't make me feel alone' from 7-year-olds in Nebraska. When I was growing up, there wasn't a character like this. I think what makes Kurt so special is he's finding himself in front of our eyes.

Despite the ongoing anti-gay bullying and still too common suicides of gay youth, the fact that a character like Kurt even exists now shows how much gay visibility has progressed. After all, bullying and suicides are nothing new; the existence of a character like Kurt is groundbreaking. 

Colfer also addresses what his own high school experience was like, referring to himself as an exotic animal. Says Colfer: 

The best way I can describe myself in high school was that I was kind of like a social llama. Like where does the llama go? A llama's not a cow. It's not a horse. It might hang out with the duck once in a while, but it really has no place to belong. I was a social llama. But I didn't spit on things.

As for what he went through to get where he is now, Colfer says: 

Had you told me when I was walking down the halls being picked on and harassed, in a matter of four years, I'd be put in a position where the character I'd be playing on TV would be inspiring so many people in that same situation, it would have been mind-blowing. Everything happens for a reason, so maybe it was good I went through all of that because now it all comes from a personal place. 

In case you missed it, here is the "Teenage Dream" song from next week's Glee.