What Happened to Chris Colfer?

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Chris Colfer.Image via Wikimedia Commons

The Rise to Fame

Christopher Paul Colfer (born May 27, 1990) is an American actor, singer, and author. He gained international recognition for his portrayal of Kurt Hummel on the television musical Glee (2009–2015). Colfer's portrayal of Kurt received critical praise and won him several awards, including the 2011 Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries or Television Film, three consecutive People's Choice Awards for Favorite Comedic TV Actor from 2013 to 2015, two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series nominations and one Grammy Award nomination. In April 2011, Colfer was named one of the Time 100, Time's list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Colfer wrote, starred in, produced, and novelized his first film, Struck by Lightning, which debuted at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival. He also wrote The New York Times bestselling The Land of Stories series of children's fiction books, starting with The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell. As of September 2025, he has published twenty-one books.

Early life and education

Colfer was born in Clovis, California, to Karyn and Timothy Colfer. He is of Irish ancestry and has stated: "I'm very Irish, my family is all Irish and Saint Patrick's Day in my house is crazy." As a child, he was confined to a hospital bed for three months following a lymph node surgery, which left a scar on his neck and which he credits as one of the difficult experiences that made him interested in fictional worlds.

When Colfer was seven, his younger sister was diagnosed with severe epilepsy; he said, "She'd have these horrid, horrid epileptic fits in the middle of the night." He "craved attention" from his parents, but it was diverted to his sister's health. He knew he wanted to be an actor, but as a coping mechanism he retreated into his imagination and began writing fairy tales.

The Peak Years

At an early age, Colfer showed a passion for writing. He was "born wanting to be a storyteller", using both writing and acting as ways to entertain people and escape reality. His grandmother was his first editor, advising and encouraging him in elementary school when he first attempted to write a fairytale-inspired novel, which would later become The Land of Stories. In 2012, Colfer dedicated his first published novel to her, and quoted her: "Christopher, I think you should wait until you're done with elementary school before worrying about being a failed writer."

Colfer was bullied so severely in middle school that he needed to be homeschooled for half of 7th grade and 8th grade. When he attended Clovis East High School, he was involved with the speech and debate program, and he won "champion titles", including placing ninth in the State Competition for Dramatic Interpretation. He was also active in the drama club, the FFA, "was president of the Writer's Club, editor of the school's literary magazine, and captain of Destination ImagiNation". As a high school senior, he wrote, starred in, and directed a spoof of Sweeney Todd entitled Shirley Todd, in which all of the roles were gender-reversed. One of his real in-school experiences was later turned into a subplot for his character on Glee, when the high school teachers denied him the chance to sing "Defying Gravity" from the musical Wicked because it is traditionally sung by a woman.

The first show Colfer acted in was a community theatre production of West Side Story. He then appeared in The Sound of Music as Kurt von Trapp at Good Company Players, which later inspired the naming of his Glee character.

At age 18, Colfer starred as Russel Fish in Russel Fish: The Sausage and Eggs Incident, a short film in which an awkward teenager must pass a Presidential Physical Fitness test or fail gym class and lose his admission to Harvard University.

Colfer's first TV role came in 2009 when he was cast as Kurt Hummel on Fox's Glee. Kurt is a fashionable gay countertenor who is routinely bullied at school for his sexuality and participating in the very unpopular Glee Club. Colfer auditioned for the part of Artie Abrams, who uses a wheelchair, a role which eventually went to Kevin McHale.

What Changed

The show's creator, Ryan Murphy, was so impressed with Colfer that he created the role of Kurt specifically for him, and in the process, scrapped a planned character called Rajish so they could add Kurt. Murphy explained in the season two finale of The Glee Project that Colfer was the inspiration for the project show because he did not fit the role he auditioned for but was still "incredible and special" so a role was created for him.

In a 2010 interview with Allison Kugel, Colfer stated that:

There have been a couple of times when I have gone to Ryan Murphy and told him a couple of things that have happened to me, and then he writes it into the show. Or he'll ask me what song I would want to sing, in this situation or in that situation. I don't think any of us directly try to give input on the character or on the storyline, but they definitely steal things from us.

Colfer won the 2011 Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series for his performance as Kurt Hummel. In his emotional acceptance speech, he thanked Ryan Murphy for being his "fairy godfather" and dedicated the award to kids who have been bullied and told "they can't [...] have what they want because of who they are." He was twice nominated for an Emmy Award in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series category for his portrayal of Kurt.

In 2013 and 2014, Colfer won consecutive People's Choice Awards for Favorite Comedic TV Actor. Both speeches he gave were praised by the media for being funny while making references to things like fanfiction and fanart to show his appreciation for fan culture.

The Land of Stories

Where Chris Colfer Is Now

On June 8, 2011, Colfer signed a book deal with Little, Brown and Company to write two novels for children. The first book in the series, The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell, was released on July 17, 2012. The books are about Conner and Alex Bailey, twins, who get their grandma's story book and go through adventures in "The Land of Stories". For two weeks after the book's release, it was number one on The New York Times Best Seller list in the Children's Chapter Books category.

The second book in the series, The Land of Stories: The Enchantress Returns (2013) debuted at number two on The New York Times Best Seller list, and by the end of 2013, it had spent eleven weeks in the top fifteen for Children's Middle Grade books. Following the success of the first two books, Colfer contracted for an additional three books with Little, Brown: two novels and a picture book.

The third book in the series, The Land of Stories: A Grimm Warning, was released on July 8, 2014. Now considered a series, it reached No. 4 on The New York Times Best Seller list and spent four weeks on the list.

Colfer's fourth novel, The Land of Stories: Beyond the Kingdoms, was released on July 7, 2015. Following its release, The Land of Stories charted at No. 1 as a series on The New York Times Best Seller list for the first time on July 26.

The picture book, written by Colfer and illustrated by Brandon Dorman, The Curvy Tree was released in October 2015 and is based on a short original fairy tale of the same name, which Colfer first told in The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell.

Legacy

The fifth book in the series, The Land of Stories: An Author's Odyssey, was released on July 12, 2016. The sixth and final installment, The Land of Stories: Worlds Collide was released on July 11, 2017.

In June 2017, it was announced that Colfer would make his directorial debut with a film adaptation of The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell. He would also write the script and serve as one of the executive producers on the project. In July 2025, Deadline confirmed that Warner Bros Pictures had acquired the rights, with Phil Johnston adapting the series.

Other works

Colfer wrote, starred in, executive-produced, and novelized the coming-of-age comedy film Struck by Lightning. The plot revolves around Colfer's character, who is struck and killed by a bolt of lightning, and chronicles his exploits as he blackmails his fellow senior classmates into contributing to a literary magazine he is publishing. It was shot during the Glee hiatus in the summer of 2011 and had its world premiere in 2012 at the Tribeca Film Festival.

In March 2012, Colfer was featured in a performance of Dustin Lance Black's play, 8 – a staged reenactment of the federal trial that overturned California's Prop 8 ban on same-sex marriage – as Ryan Kendall. The production was held at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre and broadcast on YouTube to raise money for the American Foundation for Equal Rights.

Colfer landed a deal with the Disney Channel to adapt the book The Little Leftover Witch for a television pilot. He also wrote another movie, set in an asylum, which he planned to appear in as a supporting actor. However, both of these projects were delayed with no expected dates for production.

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