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->''"I'm Harry Freakin' Potter, and I'm the man!"''
-->-- '''Harry Potter''', ''Theatre/AVeryPotterSequel''

Darren Everett Criss (born February 5, 1987 in San Francisco, California) started out in the surprise Website/{{Youtube}} hit and AffectionateParody ''Theatre/AVeryPotterMusical'', as the title character. He banded together with a few fellow University of Michigan student and formed Creator/TeamStarKid, a theater production company that is now Los Angeles-based. Among the [=StarKid=] projects that he's been in are ''Theatre/AVeryPotterMusical'', ''Theatre/AVeryPotterSequel'', and ''WebVideo/LittleWhiteLie''.

Even though he's been quoted as wanting to be an actor who sings and not the other way around, he's inseparable from music. He wrote part of the music for ''Theatre/MeAndMyDick'', and all the music for ''Theatre/AVeryPotterSequel'', as well as for the musical ''Theatre/{{Starship}}''. In the meanwhile, he put out his own 5-song EP, “Human”. He loves singing live; give this guy a mike, a guitar, and a stage, and he's a happy man.

After graduation from U of M, he had a role in the short-lived series ''Series/{{Eastwick}}'', and made [[http://coldcase.wikia.com/wiki/Reuben_Harris an appearance]] in one of the final episodes of ''Series/ColdCase'' ("Free Love").

He played the character of Blaine Anderson, an openly gay student at the all-boys' school Dalton and [[Creator/ChrisColfer Kurt Hummel's]] love interest on ''Series/{{Glee}}''. Criss's start on ''Series/{{Glee}}'' made a huge splash, as his version of “Teenage Dream” featuring the Dalton Warblers (a.k.a. the Tufts University Beelzebubs) became the highest-selling ''Glee'' song overnight, easily beating out “Don't Stop Believin'”.

Criss made his Broadway debut in the revival of ''Theatre/HowToSucceedInBusinessWithoutReallyTrying'' in January 2012, replacing the original [[Film/HarryPotter Harry Freakin' Potter]], Creator/DanielRadcliffe. He then portrayed the title character in ''Theatre/HedwigAndTheAngryInch'' on Broadway in 2015.

In 2018, Criss starred in ''Series/TheAssassinationOfGianniVersace'', as Andrew Cunanan, which earned him universal acclaim and resulted in him becoming the first Filipino Emmy winner.

He married his longtime girlfriend, Mia Swier, in 2019.

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!!Selected filmography:
* ''Series/{{Glee}}'' as Blaine Anderson
* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersRobotsInDisguise2015'' as Sideswipe
* ''VideoGame/DeadOrAlive: Dimensions'' as Jann Lee
* Series/{{Arrowverse}} as Music Meister
** ''Series/Supergirl2015''
** ''Series/TheFlash2014''
* ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' as Raphael
** [[https://youtu.be/jOuSCfJgpd8 "Turtles Take Time and Space"]]
** ''WesternAnimation/BatmanVsTheTeenageMutantNinjaTurtles''
* ''Series/TheAssassinationOfGianniVersace'' as Andrew Cunanan
* WesternAnimation/{{Tomorrowverse}} as ComicBook/{{Superman}}
** ''WesternAnimation/SupermanManOfTomorrow''
** ''WesternAnimation/JusticeSocietyWorldWarII''
** ''WesternAnimation/LegionOfSuperHeroes2023''
** ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueWarworld''
** ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueCrisisOnInfiniteEarths''
* ''WesternAnimation/HazbinHotel'' as Saint Peter
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!!Tropes that apply to this actor include:
%%* AlbumTitleDrop: "And that just makes me a dumb human, like you."
* AffectionateParody: ''Theatre/AVeryPotterMusical'' and ''Theatre/AVeryPotterSequel'' are among the most affectionate.
* BandOfRelatives: Criss used to play for his brother Chuck's band Music/FreelanceWhales.
** As of 2017, he and his brother Chuck now make up the band Computer Games.
* TheCameo: In Music/KatyPerry's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlyXNRrsk4A "Last Friday Night"]].
-->"BEST PARTY EVER! WOOOOO!"
* CampStraight: He grew up in gay-friendly San Francisco and is a huge fan of musical theater. When asked about playing a gay character on ''Glee'', he often mentions that he had to "come out as straight" to his theater friends. Taken up to eleven with his [[http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ljv35omXrB1qegfeco1_500.png attire]] from the Coachella music festival, where he walked around shirtless covered in multicolored body paint and wearing clip-on earrings and rainbow nail polish.
* CompanionCube: Criss is famous for his trademark pink sunglasses. He even got them into a scene on ''Series/{{Glee}}''.
* TheCoverChangesTheGender: Usually averted in his songs, whether it's Disney, ''Series/{{Glee}}'' or his own work. Arguably plays with it in the case of ''Glee'', as he plays a gay character. And in the case of this [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7ZwxUgh7pg cover]] of "Happy to Keep His Dinner Warm", a song sung by a woman who dreams of being the ultimate housewife, he explicitly plays it as a gay man to his husband, and some of the lyrics are changed to show Criss's support for gay marriage.
* CoverVersion
** Has an old Website/YouTube account under the name of Iclemyer, where he does covers of Disney songs. Included are "Belle", "I'll Make a Man Out of You", and "Part of Your World".
** Lampshaded in ''AVPS''. "I make weird covers of Disney songs. Who does that?"
** His cover of "Teenage Dream" is widely considered to be far better than the original.
* CreatorBacklash: Later regretted playing a gay character on ''Glee'' despite being straight in real life, feeling that doing so deprives actual gay actors of their potential roles.[[note]]While his point is certainly valid, the gay community doesn't seem to hold it against him.[[/note]]
* DeadpanSnarker:
** He and Creator/ChrisColfer were snarking jointly on Twitter after "Original Song" aired, in which their characters kissed.
-->'''Darren:''' [[http://twitter.com/DarrenCriss/status/47927342139588608 Looks like we finally did what everybody was waiting on for so long... A Hey Monday song! Boy, I sure hope people liked it!]]\\
'''Chris:''' [[http://twitter.com/chriscolfer/status/47929266268147712 I fo' sho' thought "RIP Pavarotti" would be trending before "They Kissed". Tisk tisk. He is rolling in his bedazzled grave.]]
** He does this all the time, really.
-->'''Reporter:''' How has your life changed since ''Glee''?\\
'''Darren:''' How hasn't it changed?!... I bought a new sweater.
* IAmSong: "The Coolest Girl". Written (as quoted by {{Word of God}}) by Criss to be another "Part Of Your World" or "On My Own", sung by Bonnie Gruesen (Hermione) in ''AVPS''.
* IncrediblyLongNote: "To Have A Home", ''AVPS''.
* IWantSong: Most of his songs, of the romantic variety.
* LoopedLyrics: "Don't you want the way I feel/Don't you want the way I feel/Don't you want the way I feel for you".
* LoveNostalgiaSong: "Sami"; "Don't You"
* LyricalDissonance: "Jealousy", a sunny and energetic song about [[GreenEyedMonster Envy]] so consuming that he can't stand looking in the mirror, and he tries unsuccessfully to [[DrowningMySorrows drown it out with alcohol.]]
* ObsessionSong: "The Muse"; "Jealousy"
* OlderThanTheyLook: He's currently in his mid-thirties, but he still manages to pass for his early-twenties if not teens.
* PerformanceArtist: He was a fan of musical theater growing up, and plays six instruments, sings, acts, and writes his own material.
* QueerCharacterQueerActor: Invoked. Criss himself is straight, and he announced after wrapping up ''American Crime Story'' that he would no longer seek out or accept gay roles, as he doesn't want to take that opportunity away from gay actors.
* RewrittenPopVersion: "Not Alone", "Sami" ("Harry"), "Even Though" and "Stutter" all have solo versions.
%%* SelfBackingVocalist
* WildHair: He sheared down to a more debonair look for ''Series/{{Glee}}'', but he has naturally curly hair which can become this when he lets it grow out.
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