Darren Criss is normally verbose, but after winning the Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical for his work on Maybe Happy Ending, he found himself speechless.
"I'm kind of just breathing?" said Criss in an exclusive interview with 半岛体育 just moments after he stepped off the stage for his acceptance speech, "I mean, it's been a long day. I'm elated. I believe that's that's probably the word. You guys are no stranger to my verbal diarrhea, I have a lot to say a lot of the time, but right now, it's the opposite of that. It's just kind of breathing it in and letting it wash over me. I'm just elated."
While many have seen it written in the stars for Criss to one day win a Tony, he never fully believed this moment was in the cards for him鈥攊n fact, he didn't even major in musical theatre in college. "This wasn't on the itinerary, okay? This was not part of the plan. This is not why I said yes to this show. And nobody will believe me if I say that. But truly, I was there for wonderful opportunity on a piece that I thought was beautiful. I was available. I got to work with friends, full stop... Work is award enough. I obviously have the luxury of getting to say that, because they also happened to give me one of these. But no matter how it went tonight, if it went to any of the other guys, I would have been thrilled. I love those dudes. I love their work. I've spent so much time and money on my feet, clapping and marveling at their incredible abilities, you know? And I really tried to highlight that with the limited amount of time and headspace that I had, but I'm just so happy to be here. That's one thing I guess I would have liked to have said, but everybody else says it, so I feel like it's understood: If you watch the Tonys, you fucking love this community. This one's personal."
Maybe Happy Ending is currently running at the Belasco Theatre. Criss' last day on the show is August 31. Criss is also the first Asian-American actor to win Lead Actor in a Musical. And technically, as a co-producer of Maybe Happy Ending, which also won Best Musical鈥擟riss technically won two Tonys!
For more about the Tony Awards, visit 半岛体育.com/Tonys.
