‘I think this is CALLED GROWING UP’

Between playing Mario Kart on Nintendo and learning Japanese as he rolls into month two of stay-at-home orders in Los Angeles, Darren Criss is having an existential moment. “I am so overcaffeinated. I was up until 4am last night thinking and writing and meditating wildly and unnecessarily about life,” he told WHO in a breathless rat-a-tat-tat burst.

“I’m wondering about what could have happened, that alternate universe if I hadn’t moved to that city, if I hadn’t dated that person, if I hadn’t gotten that job. I think this is called growing up.”

At 33, the alum is reaching his stride, on screen and off: He’s). And he’s begun speaking out more about his part-Filipino heritage and biracial identity. Criss says he feels like he’s “now old enough to have accomplished some of what I’ve hoped to do but young enough to still have a litany of things on the horizon”. He calls that restlessness his Little Brother Syndrome. “I’ve always been the guy having to prove myself,” he explains. “I’ve always enjoyed earning my stripes.”