Darren Criss is always "nervous" to go on stage.

Darren Criss is always 'nervous' to go on stage

Darren Criss is always 'nervous' to go on stage

The 37-year-old actor has been treading the boards since he was a child and became known around the world when he starred in the Fox musical drama series 'Glee' in the late 2000s but insisted that being anxious before he goes out to an audience just means that he "cares" about the show he is in.

He told this week's edition of UsWeekly; "I think someone told me once that being nervous means you care. So that’s always good. I’m nervous, but not for the reasons you would think. It’s for the desire to really nail things.

"Performers tend to make these arbitrary goalposts that you have to hit in order to feel good about a performance, but it’s a complete delusion. Those aren’t real. You know, every show, as long as you can hit 75 percent of the things you want to hit, usually that’s gonna be 100 percent of an experience for the audience."

But things do not always go smoothly for the former 'American Horror Story' star - who is currently appearing in a production of 'Maybe Happy Ending' on Broadway - as he recalled a time when he played Seymour in the cult musical 'Little Shop of Horrors' and the performance had to be cancelled because of a flood.

He said: "Live theatre is live theatre. There’s so many things that have happened that I couldn’t possibly keep tabs on every single one.

"I did have one experience when I was doing 'Little Shop of Horrors' and there was a flood in the middle. There was a heavy rainfall and there was a flood in the middle of the building and they had to evacuate within, like, 15 minutes of starting. And we didn’t get to finish the show, and I was so upset for the people that came. So that was kind of a wild experience."

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