EXCLUSIVE: Darren Criss Says the Biggest Challenge of Playing 'Hedwig' Is Not Being Able to Drink

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Darren Criss may play a rock star in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, but he's definitely not partying like one.

ET caught up with the 29-year-old actor at a special screening of the hit musical's 2001 movie adaptation starring John Cameron Mitchell at the Rooftop Cinema Club in Hollywood, where he dished on the hardest part of playing Hedwig on stage.


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"Honestly, not being able to drink!" Criss laughed. "And by the way, you can! But that's a horrible idea."

"It's not so much for looking good -- It's more so you don't, like, puke on stage," he explained. "I'll just be here and have a little seltzer water. It's fine. There are worse problems than that."

For Criss, giving up booze for a chance to reprise the role he played on Broadway is completely worth it.

"It was a show and a score and a character that I was so taken with as a teenager that, you know,being able to pass on the effect that it had on me to newer people -- it is a real torch-passing moment," he said. "People always ask what your dream role is, and I say, 'I'm good.' This is like Hamlet. I'm serious. It is at that level."


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The former Glee star will be kicking off the upcoming national tour of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, playing the titular character for the first two stops in San Francisco and Los Angeles, and he couldn't be more excited.

"I was never not going to do it again. I heard it was going to San Francisco, where I'm from, so the idea of somebody else doing it, I was like, 'No, no, no, no,'" he confessed. "It's gotta be me! It's sort of like a homecoming for me."

As for what's next, Criss is keeping future projects under wraps.

"Hopefully 2017 will be a really interesting year, where I'll just drop something and you'll be like, 'When did he do that?'" he teased. "The answer was, 'Right around now.'"

Fans can catch Criss at his performances of Hedwig and the Angry Inch at the SHN Golden Gate Theatre in San Francisco, and at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles in November.


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Criss may be moving on from his Glee past, but he did fess up to stealing a little souvenir from set. Watch the video below to find out what he took!