Something in me was instinctively drawn to the life of a misunderstood, brilliant and wilful artist. I wanted to become one.
— John Lloyd Young
I did have a falsetto, but I only used it when I was joking around with friends or to annoy my girlfriends, or in the shower, because no one else was around. Or in college. I'd go to karaoke bars and sing Tina Turner songs in the original key.
I was the first guest star asked to appear on 'Glee,' which we all know became huge.
My natural mother passed away from cystic fibrosis when I was a toddler, so I feel a great deal of empathy for people who are struggling with disease.
I'm looking for smart friends all the time.
I think that of musicals - especially the big, splashy ones - require an actor that's also part cheerleader, too, and that's really tough to do if it's not something that really grabs you and your heart's not in it.
My interest in acting came from seeing Broadway shows on summer trips to New York as a child. It was the original production of 'A Chorus Line' in an easy tie with the first 10 -15 minutes of Dustin Hoffman in 'Tootsie' that hooked me on the romantic idea that the impossible, difficult life of a struggling actor was for me.
The thing early on that you think is 'wrong' with you, that makes you not fit in with everyone else, becomes the key to your career as an actor. Start embracing it.
My mother died of cystic fibrosis before I knew her. I was two years old, and I don't remember her. I do remember, though, when it was just my father and me, before he met the woman who would become the mother who raised me, before my younger sister, Gillian. It was just the two of us, and he was my whole world.
During 'Jersey Boys,' I discovered one of the most rewarding ways to use your goodwill is to motivate fans and friends into lending support to charity.
