Chris Colfer says he was told to 'not come out' when first filming Glee: 'It will ruin your career'

Chris Colfer may have played one of the first openly gay high school characters on television, but that doesn’t mean his own decision to come out was an easy one.

The Glee actor, who starred as Kurt Hummel on all six seasons of the hit Fox series, revealed on Tuesday’s episode of The View that he was advised early on to not come out while filming the first season of the show because it could potentially “ruin” his career.

“I grew up in a very conservative town where being openly gay was dangerous,” Colfer explained. “I remember when I got on [Glee] the role was written for me, and I did not know what the role was gonna be, and so I opened the script and when I read the script for the first time was when I saw that it was an openly gay character and I was terrified.”

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Throughout the first season of Glee, Colfer’s character Kurt wrestles with his sexuality as he navigates coming out to his close friends and loved ones as well as his crush on high school quarterback and fellow Glee club member, Finn Hudson (Cory Monteith). However, Colfer noted that he was told to keep his own sexuality a secret. 

“When I started filming the show I had a lot of people tell me, ‘Do not come out whatever you do because it will ruin your career.’ So I hid for a little bit,” he said. "But I also told them, ‘I can’t hide it with my voice… I’m more effeminate than most people. I can’t hide it.’ And they said, ‘Don’t worry. As long as you never address it, you’ll be rewarded for it in the end.’” 

In the end, Colfer decided to come out after an encounter with a young fan at a Glee event.

“We went on this big poster signing tour right before the show came out, and this little boy secretly slid me an envelope when his parents weren’t looking and I opened it up and it was a little note that said, ‘Thank you,'" he recalled. "And there was a little paperclip chain that was the colors of the rainbow, and in that moment I knew I have to come out.”

Colfer, who later came out as gay during a 2009 interview on Chelsea Lately, noted that the impact he was making by being open about his sexuality was “more important” than any movie or television role. 

“At the time, I was thinking, ‘Okay, yeah, if I’m an openly gay actor, yeah, I may never win a major award. I may never get to play a superhero,’” he said. “But I think being a beacon of positivity and providing that comfort for people is way more important than attention.”