Conversations with Darren Criss (2018)

Career Q&A with Darren Criss, moderated by Broadway World's Richard Ridge of "Backstage with Richard Ridge!"

Darren Criss is a multi-faceted artist with an illustrious career spanning television, film, music and stage. He recently won a Primetime Emmy Award and received a Golden Globe nod for his portrayal of Andrew Cunanan in Ryan Murphy’s award-winning series “American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace.” He made television history for being the second actor of Asian descent to ever win in this category and first Filipino-American to ever win an Emmy. His turn as Cunanan garnered him rave-reviews, being deemed as “electrifying,” “chilling,” “compelling,” “magnetic and frightening,” and “career-changing.” It has also earned him acting nods from the Television Critics Association Awards, MTV Movie & TV Awards and People’s Choice Awards. 

Up next, Criss will star as Lieutenant Eugene Lindsey alongside Woody Harrelson and Mandy Moore in the Roland Emmerich-directed World War II film “Midway” that’s set for release in 2019. He recently wrapped the UK leg of the wildly successful LM/DC Tour with his “Glee” co-star Lea Michele in Birmingham. Criss is also the founder of Elsie Fest, New York City’s first showtunes music festival that was proclaimed by Entertainment Weekly as the “Coachella of Broadway.” In the fall of 2016, Criss returned to Broadway in his critically-acclaimed performance as Hedwig in “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” which kicked off the 2014 Tony Award-winning Best Musical Revival’s national tour. The New York Times touted Criss as “mesmerizing” when he first stepped into the title role on Broadway in 2015. Criss made his Broadway debut in January of 2012 as J. Pierrepont Finch in “How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying.” With Criss at the helm, the revival made just under $4 million, which proved to be the most lucrative three weeks of its 11-month run. Best known for playing Blaine Anderson on FOX’s global phenomenon “Glee,” he received an Emmy Award nomination in 2015 for best original music and lyrics for the song “This Time,” which was performed by Lea Michele and appeared in the episode titled “Dreams Come True.”