Chris Colfer Is Honored To Be A Part Of Your Fan Fiction

Before Chris Colfer became a Golden-Globe-winning actor and New York Times bestselling author, he wrote fan fiction — not that the then-12-year-old would ever deign to call it that.

“I didn’t even think it was fan fiction at the time because I took myself way too seriously as a kid,” the 36-year-old tells Bustle. “Whenever I would write scripts or adaptations of stories, I was just certain someone would want to purchase it.”

One of his works was an adaptation of Wicked, which, needless to say, didn’t happen. “I think [director Jon M. Chu’s adaptation] had much less blood than mine,” Colfer says, laughing. “I made Oz a Victorian steampunk world, and I blew up a lot more buildings. So his was probably much more what the audience wanted.”

More than two decades later, Colfer’s adolescent writing has paid off in dividends. His first children’s novel, 2012’s The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell, became a bestselling series with six books, three prequels, and a film adaptation in the works at Warner Bros. (“The material’s really being respected,” he says.) Then, in 2017, he used his fanfic expertise to inspire his first YA novel, Stranger Than Fanfiction. “It was a great exercise for your imagination,” he says.

However, nothing could have prepared him to become the subject of fan fiction. Colfer is, of course, best known for his breakout role as Kurt Hummel on Glee. In 2010, Kurt fell in love with his first boyfriend, Blaine (Darren Criss). To this day, “Klaine” is still the show’s most “shipped” couple, and one of the more popular romantic pairings in the fan fiction world. Some writers even made it personal, turning their pens toward Colfer himself, not Kurt.

Needless to say, Colfer has mixed emotions about the experience. “As an actor or writer, seeing your characters in fan fiction is one of the greatest compliments ever,” he says. “But it does get a little strange when people use you as a person in their writing. It’s a quick way to realize just exactly what people think of you.”

Ironically, he’s not much of a romance reader. “I’ve never really been too invested in any kind of fictional couple,” he says. “Give me an old woman who’s very sarcastic and has a martini in her hands, and I am transfixed.”

While Colfer had put acting on the back burner to focus on his books, this month, he returns with his first film in nearly a decade, the campy horror The Restoration at Grayson Manor, which feels like a strange fan fiction come to life, complete with said sarcastic woman. Colfer plays a wealthy heir, Boyd Grayson, who has a co-dependent toxic relationship with his equally sharp-tongued mom, Jacqueline (Alice Krige), who resents him for refusing to continue the family lineage. When he loses his hands in a freak accident, she constructs a new set controlled by his subconscious, which ends up being rather murderous.

After years of writing for children’s and YA audiences, Colfer found it “cathartic” to play the complete opposite of his more wholesome characters. “It was really, really therapeutic to get to swear and scream and just be a horrible, horrible person for a couple of months,” he says.

Below, Colfer opens up about his love of fandoms, becoming the subject of fan fiction, and the reports that a Glee reboot could be in the works.

You turned your love of fan fiction and affinity fandom into Stranger Than Fanfiction, about kids who bond over a TV show. Before you went on a TV show yourself, did you find community through fanfic, and why was that so important to convey?

I wasn’t really aware of all the websites where you could [post stuff]. I’m not even sure if that was available when I was younger, but I was the president of the writers club in high school, and that was a great place where we would all read our fan fiction together. It’s really important for writers to have friendships with other writers, because we are all worlds trapped in a person.

Are there any stories from back then that you’re still proud of?

I have a lot of affection for Candyland the Musical. I wrote that when I was in middle school. Not only did I write the whole script but I also wrote every song. I’m sure it was absolutely terrible, but it was probably the one I was most invested in, and I was absolutely certain it was going to happen. I’m waiting for Hasbro to call me.

How did you even come up with that?

Every story that I wrote when I was younger — and, honestly, now — is basically The Wizard of Oz where someone from the real world finds themselves in a different dimension and has adventures with familiar characters and faces.

You’re in a unique position because you wrote fan fiction as a kid, and then your Glee character Kurt becomes a part of Klaine. Have you ever delved into that world?

I have never searched for it but sometimes I will get links from friends who have read some pretty saucy stuff.

It cracks me up that your friends were sending you spicy ones. Where were they finding them?

There was a period in my early career when I couldn’t be photographed with someone without them becoming the subject of some kind of fan fiction with me. It was almost like I was patient zero, walking around infecting everybody. I wouldn’t be surprised if a few of my friends have aliases online and have been writing about me for years.

Did becoming the subject make you think differently about fanfiction?

It was really jarring and sometimes really sexual. That was an adjustment, seeing all these stories written about me in risque and adult ways. But usually when I saw myself as the subject of fanfiction, I was the hero. I rarely was the villain, so that was a plus. I think that meant I was doing something right.

What crossed the line for you?

A lot of fans thought Glee was a documentary, and they really, really wanted Darren [Criss] and me to be in a relationship in real life. Sometimes those people would cross a line and make me feel a little uncomfortable because they would bring so much of my personal life, or make up stuff about my personal life, to validate whatever story they were writing.

Speaking of Glee, Gen Z has embraced it in an unexpected way and kept the fandom alive. Why do you think that show has gotten a second life?

One of the secrets of Glee’s success was that so many kids identified with the characters and put themselves in that world, because for the first time, they saw themselves represented on TV. There was a beautiful connection with our audience, and that probably is why people keep writing stories about those characters and putting their own emotions into that world.

Now a script has been written for a potential reboot. What are your thoughts on the show possibly coming back?

I know nothing and have heard absolutely nothing. I wish I did. It was a really tough show to do, and it would be really hard to do it now that Naya [Rivera] is gone. But I do know that Glee fans would probably come after me with pitchforks and jazz hands if I said no. So I don’t know, but hopefully I’ll have more information and I can actually think about it.

You were at Dancing With the Stars the other day to support Harry Shum Jr. How is your relationship with the cast?

I talk to someone from Glee almost every single day. We have a lot of text chains going. It’s mostly a lot of funny memes and pictures of people’s kids, but we do try to get together as much as we can. I was so happy to see Harry shine. He is one of the greatest people in the world, and I’m over the moon that he’s getting to have this moment. I was sitting next to his daughter, and getting to watch her dad do that was pretty magical.

Moving forward, what’s on your vision board when it comes to both acting and writing?

I really missed acting. I had so much fun doing [The Restoration at Grayson Manor] that I hope I get to do it again soon. I shot Rebel Wilson’s new movie, Girl Group. That was a blast.

I recently found out that my 11th great-grandmother is one of the most famous women in American history, so I went on a deep dive into her life and found something that happened to her that has never been explored. I have a dream of writing that script and bringing that story to life.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.