It's a subject that's very near and dear to my heart, simply because I grew up in such an open community-doing theater in San Francisco. I mean, it doesn't get much, stereotypically, "gayer." I was inadvertently raised in the "gay community." I had straight parents, but I spent massive amounts of time at a very early age with gay, theater-hopeful thirty-somethings. And those were the people I spent time with early on, so my whole perception of "sexuality" just wasn't there. It just...was. It even got to the point where, later in life... I had all the components in place. I was, well, not super effeminate, but I was into girly things-I liked musical theater, all the stereotypical things. I had to come out and say, well, I'm sorry, but I think I'm straight. And people were like, say it ain't so! And I would say, "It's been a secret too long, but I'm actually a straight male."And so for the longest time when people asked me about Blaine, I wanted to say It doesn't matter. And it doesn't. But I don't want to devalue it, because it's a very earnest question, and I can see why people would want to know. And I realized that if I said, It doesn't matter, that immediately means that I'm gay. So I do define myself as a straight male, but it really doesn't come into play with me in this role. As an actor, your objective is always to play the scene. And this case, he happens to be a gay teen.

I was fighting a bear in Canada. I was on the verge of death and looked him straight in the eye, and the bear took pity on me before I took my last breath. "Is there anything you want before you die, I'm a bear of honor," he asked. And I said, "I really want to go out for Glee." And he said, "it just so happens I know the casting director, I'll get you over there right now. But I'm going to kill you if you don't get it." So I went into the casting office, and I said, "I really want to do this part, and if I don't get it, the bear's going to kill me." So they gave me this part. And the bear let me live. And now he's a good friend of mine and a big fan of the show.

[on his success in Glee (2009)] What's happened to me is not normal. When you're an artist you have to hope for everything and expect nothing.

[on his breakout fame] I wish I could say it's a dream come true but, quite frankly, my dreams weren't that good as a kid. I didn't have that big of an imagination.

[on his Glee (2009) character] As an actor you play different parts and this one happens to be a gay character - and a strong one, so really I lucked out.

There's nothing more badass than being yourself.

Pink. Because it would be really funny. 'Cause then really mean people wouldn't look so mean.

No matter what, I will always prefer a live performance. Whether it be a play or a musical, or playing music live. As long as it's live, it's the best because there's sort of an immediacy to connection between an audience and a performer, whereas where you do film or television, you're at the whim of so many different forces.

That which makes you different is what makes you strong. Whether you're gay, straight, purple, orange, dinosaur, I don't care.

There's not a damn thing that I do on my own that's not for my fans or for people that have supported me. So, I don't really care about my agenda, I wanna be on yours.