Christopher Paul Colfer (born 27 May 1990 in Clovis, California) better known by his pen name Chris Colfer is an American singer, Golden Globe-winning actor, and #1 New York Times bestselling author. Colfer is well-known for The Land of Stories series as well as for the prequel series A Tale of Magic...
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Chris Colfer was born in Clovis, California on May 27, 1990, to Karyn Colfer and Timothy Colfer. He has stated that he is of Irish descent/ancestry, as well as that he knew he wanted to be an actor at a young age, despite regularly writing throughout his childhood.
Where he grew up in Fresno, Califonia, he lived near a Fairy Tale theme park called "Storyland." The park was a huge inspiration for the Land of Stories. At the age of seven, Colfer began to write about the adventures of the Bailey Twins. It was at this time he dubbed his fantasy series The Land of Stories.
During his senior year of High School, as a final for his Speech and Debate/Forensics class, he taught an original lesson entitled "The Importance of Fairy Tales," which he credits as the inspiration for Mrs. Peters lesson in chapter one of The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell.
Career[]
Chris Colfer started off his acting career quite early with his first role being in a community theater production of West Side Story.
Colfer went on to play the character of Kurt Hummel, a gay countertenor who is consistently bullied for his identity, in the musical comedy-drama series Glee, playing the role from 2009 until 2015. Kurt's experiences in the show are confirmed to be based off of certain real-life experiences Chris had been through in the past. Chris Colfer has been nominated for two Primetime Emmy awards, and has won a Golden Globe award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television. He also starred in the 2012 film Struck by Lightning, which he also wrote the screenplay for.
In 2011, Chris started off his writing career with the signing of a book deal between him and Little, Brown and Company. His first book, titled The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell, was released in 2012, the same year he released Struck by Lightning: The Carson Phillips Journal. He has published a total of six books in The Land of Stories series, three books in the A Tale of Magic... series, various companion books to the Land of Stories series, a standalone work, and two books in the Roswell Johnson series.
Personal Life[]
Chris Colfer has confirmed that he is gay and has been in a relationship with Will Sherrod, a producer and actor, since 2013. He is a known Democrat, and an advocate for equal rights for all people, especially for women, and the LGBTQ+ community.
Role in the Land of Stories[]
Within the canon plot of The Land of Stories, it is stated that the Fairy Godmother and Mother Goose tasked Chris with recording the story of Alex and Conner Bailey's adventures, similarly to how authors like the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen recorded other tales from the Land of Stories dimension.