Misfit Muse: Chris Colfer Proves You Don't Have to be Cool in School

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Unlike his highly fashionable alter-ego, Kurt, "Glee" gay Chris Colfer says he never quite found his place -- until he learned to flaunt, not hide, what makes him different.

Growing up in the small, conservative town of Clovis, Calif., Chris felt like an outcast -- or, in his words, a "social llama."

"Like, where does a llama go?" was his curious quandary in a recent interview. "It's not a horse. It's kind of a camel, but it's not a goat. It's just on the farm, and people point and gawk at it because it has funky hair. That's how I've always pictured myself. The llama tries to hang out with a duck and the duck freaks out and runs away. The cows are mean to it. That's what it was like for me."

You can sort of tell Chris didn't grow up on a farm. But the sentiment rings true for many, regardless of their sexuality. In fact, he says, being gay had little to do with his social awkwardness.

"Sometimes, the stories people want from me, I just don't have them," he says. "They want me to tell inspirational stories about being gay in high school, but I don't have those. I was an outcast because I was weird, not because of sexual orientation... I think how I carry myself and how I behave from now on will speak for itself."

As an actor, he continued to struggle with his identity.

"I was always auditioning for Nickelodeon and Disney Channel stuff, and all the kids had to be loud and obnoxious, and I was so internal. Like, 'Where art thou, Yorick?' with a Mickey Mouse skull, right? Which isn't quite what they were looking for."

Still, he couldn't just change himself over night. He kept searching, not just until he found the right place to fit in -- but it also found him.

Upon reading the script, "I thought, 'Oh my God, I'm one of these kids,'" Chris says. "I really, really wanted it." The feeling was mutual, even though the part of Kurt wasn't in the original script. "Glee" co-creator Ryan Murphy literally wrote the role of Kurt to suit the actor.

In the end, what makes Chris different also makes him among the standouts of "Glee."