Chris Colfer: Actor, Baker, and Pencil Costume-Maker

Hi, I'm Chris Colfer from Struck by Lightning. Stay tuned and find out about all his talents. Some cookie making in there. I am here with New York Times best-selling author, Golden Globe winner, and great mac and cheese maker, Chris Colfer.

Thank you for adding that last one in there.

Do you really make good mac and cheese?

Not really, no. No, I do make good cookies though. That's, that's my.

Oh, really? So what's the key? What's the magic ingredient?

Ooh, more butter, I say. Butter always makes everything better.

More butter. Absolutely. You can't go wrong with more butter. Yeah.

Yes, agreed. Just keep adding adding it in.

Yeah, right. So Struck by Lightning, congratulations.

Thank you.

So this started as, it started as a screenplay. And then made the film and then the book came afterward. Cuz usually it's the other way around. Right.

Yes, I did things very backwards. And also you, and the character dies in the first, you die in the first scene. So it's not the twist at the end, it's in the beginning. So you just keep twisting everything around.

Everything is very twisted, including the author. slash writer. Um, yeah, yeah, no, it was a screenplay and um, and and by a miracle we we managed to get the movie made and and then uh I had my publishers for my my my first book come to see the the movie and they loved it and asked me to make it into a book. And I thought, how am I going to do a book? And um, and and so I uh I did it a little differently. The the the movie starts when he dies. And so the movie is kind of um,

You killed yourself off.

I did, I did. I wonder I wonder what like Freudian, you know, uh uh what what that says about me. Um, but um, but yeah, so so the movie takes place, you know, after he died in flashbacks and the the book is, is the journal he kept while he was alive. His his like last three months alive.

Well, that actually reminds me of a Twitter question that we got from one of your fans. Um, at Goober Hobby. Goober Hobby. Don't ask. wants to know, does the way Carson die have any sort of symbolic meaning or significance? Because you're struck by lightning. Was there any sort of like anything behind it or was it?

You know, it was just um, it came from when I was in high school. I was leaving the writers club room and uh my parents were out of town with my sister and uh I was the last person at school and I thought to myself, if I was struck by lightning right now in this parking lot, it would take like three days for anyone to find my body. And that's where it all kind of came. But then I I sort of incorporated that like writing is kind of like lightning because it just comes to you and then it like it fills your body and tries to escape you and be expressed in every way possible. So I kind of made it into a metaphor from my initial uh uh uh idea.

Incredible. And then another Twitter question we got from one of your fans, Mia The Minion. @MiaTheMinion wants to know, does Chris still have the pencil costume?

You know, I don't actually. I um,

Did you give that back to your?

I I it's funny cuz I have every single other article of clothing from the movie because I thought, what are you all going to do with this? Can I keep it? Cuz this is the kind of stuff I like to wear around my house. Um and they gave it to me, but I don't know what happened that that pencil costume.

That's worth a phone call, I think.

Yeah, because you want to break that out again, don't you? Yeah. And I made that pencil costume actually.

Did you really?

I did, I made it.

So you're not only a good cookie maker, you're a great costume maker.

Oh, I can make costumes down. Yes. Yes. Yes. Absolutely.

What is your best? Like what's the best costume you've ever made?

Oh, um, well, this year I went as a llama assassin and and head to toe, made my costume from scratch. Uh one year I was a.

Did you have a head in your?

I did. I was a guillotine. I was a guillotine as well this year. So I made a guillotine costume. Um, yeah, yeah. There there there's lots of good ones that I've made.

Did I read on your Twitter that Judy Blume, the author, saw the movie and loves the movie?

Yes. Yes. Therefore, no matter who reviews this movie, if they if they doesn't matter what kind of bad review this movie gets, Judy Blume has publicly stated that she likes this movie. So their their opinion is irrelevant. We went.

What's your favorite Judy Blume book?

Oh, probably, I didn't really read it, but I mean, I think I think are you there God, it's me Margaret is the the famous one. I know, that's the one that comes to mind. Yeah.

And then you're a Harry Potter fan too, right? Did I see that was on like one of your wishes for there to be like another Harry Potter?

It is. Yes. Or a Disneyland condo or something. Yes. Well, because the royal baby came and I've been waiting for that baby since since the wedding. So.

You have, you're excited about it.

Yeah. I was hoping baby was already on its way at the wedding to be quite honest. But so so I'm I'm excited about that and yeah, and if if that happens and and then there's a Harry Potter book and and then Disneyland starts selling the condos that I want, then then yes.

No, what is what is that? Because don't they already have the condos?

No. No, they don't. No, but I mean, I'm thinking like Sleeping Beauty Castle could be like turned into condos and stuff, you know.

I think you should start this. You should. That would be great. You should you should definitely

I I should get first dibs, obviously.

You should absolutely have dibs. So now now that you've been writing so much, is this sort of the writing bug? Has it sort of caught on? Is it sort of a priority now or so where where are you sort of going with it? Yeah.

Oh, I'm always so embarrassed to talk about it because I I always don't want to be one of those, you know, one of those actors with like with like the hobby or or something, but it's always kind of been fun. But it's coming to fruition. I guess I guess I I I there's I've like I I can call myself an actor with no problem, but like there's something about calling myself a writer that I haven't fully grasped.

Really? Even though like I I've written books. Even though you're a best-selling New York Times best-selling writer.

I just can't. I like the I like author. I think author's I've I've settled into author, that's the title, but I don't know, it's just something about being a writer that I just haven't come to terms with, but um, but it's always been something that I've that I've had to do. It's never really been something that I've um wanted to do. It's just something that ever since I was a little kid, I I've been writing stories and just just having the most enjoy enjoyment just writing stories and creating characters and and worlds.

Well, it's great chatting with you.

Thank you, Likewise.

Congrats so much on the film.

Thanks. Thanks. Thanks.

And come back again. We've had I think every Glee cast member in here now. That's great. It's crazy. And now you've completed it.

I know. The couch can be sold.

Yes.