Glee star Darren Criss served as the co-host of Billboard.com’s Pop Shop Podcast this week, and during the hour-long appearance, the 27-year-old actor/musician chatted about all things pop music, including Meghan Trainor, Taylor Swift, Hozier and Tove Lo. He also answered a few burning questions about the upcoming final season of Glee, on which he’s played fan favorite Blaine Anderson since 2010, and how he feels about his defining television stint coming to a close early next year.
“The more the show’s end is coming into focus, the more I go, ‘Hell yeah, I love talking about Glee,’ because there’s gonna be a time not too far from now when it’s done and no one wants to talk about Glee anymore,” says Criss on the podcast. “It is a bittersweet ending. Like all really great, positive experiences that come to a close, you kind of hope that you’re in a mix between not wanting it to end but being ready to leave. The metaphor that I always use is that it’s nice to be able to see the finish line, but I’m definitely not running towards it. Most television shows don’t have the luxury of knowing when they’re gonna end, and so being able to have the time to have closure — mentally, spiritually, personally, however you want to think about it — it’s nice to get that opportunity.”
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So will the final season of Glee, which premieres in January on FOX, end with Blaine and his longtime love interest Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer) in an on-again romantic spell? “It’s too early to say — I don’t know because we’re still just in the beginning of the season. I’ve only shot two [episodes], so I don’t really know,” says Criss. “I have my hopes, you know — I think the romantic, and the pragmatist, in me, the absolute practical common sense in me goes, ‘Well, yeah, they should be together, like all great, fun love stories.’”
Criss continues to say that he doesn’t have creative control over the Blaine-Kurt plots, but that he is naturally rooting for a happy ending. “Geez, Glee can do anything at the drop of a hat, so who knows what will happen? But of course you want to see them together, in some nice flourish of an ending, and tie everything up in a nice little bow. I think the fans would appreciate that. But who knows, who really knows?”
He also says that he would “love to meet Blaine’s family” during the final season of Glee, and that he’s already earmarked a few potential songs for Blaine to perform on the show. “Right now, I’m more thinking of what songs I want to sing as like a conclusive thing for Blaine. I definitely have those songs, and I’m definitely not going to tell you what those are!”
Listen to the full podcast — which also includes Criss’ thoughts on Nick Jonas’ new single “Jealous” surging up the Hot 100 chart — below: