Alex Newell, an openly gay contestant
on cabler Oxygen's The Glee Project, says Chris Colfer
inspires him.
The 18-year-old Newell is competing to
win the show's prize of a guest role on the Fox musical-comedy Glee.
Glee's
inclusion of four central gay characters – closeted lesbian student
Santana Lopez, played by Naya Rivera; openly gay student Kurt Hummel,
played by Colfer; closeted gay football player Dave Karofsky, played
by Max Adler; and openly gay student Blaine Anderson, played by
Darren Criss – along with several peripheral gay characters –
Rachel Berry's yet-to-be-seen dads and coach Sue Sylvester's evil
accomplice Sandy, also known as The League of Doom's Pink Dagger, for
example – has earned it the nickname “the gayest show on
television.”
When
gay glossy The Advocate
asked how he felt about being called the next Kurt on Glee,
Newell said he looked to Colfer for inspiration, but added that he's
his own person.
“I
think it is great that people are saying that about me,” Newell
said. “I really hope I am able to live up to people’s
expectations, but at the same time, I don’t really like comparisons
between entertainers, as each person is an individual. I look to
Chris Colfer and the other members of the cast as inspiration for
what I can achieve. They lay down a foundation for the path I can
follow.”