Chris Colfer Turns 25; Rare Photos, Unknown Facts about the 'Glee' Star

Chris Colfer, the multi-talented star of Ryan Murphy's "Glee", turns 25 on Wednesday, 27 May.

Although he is best known for his portrayal of Kurt Hummel in the FOX series, Colfer is also famous for writing, starring in, producing, and novelising his debut film, "Struck by Lightning". He also became a New York Times number one bestselling author for the first novel in his middle-grade reader series, "The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell".

Here are some of the lesser-known facts about Chris Colfer, who was recently seen as Tony Chase in the TV Land show "Hot in Cleveland":

• Colfer took up acting as a young boy, as a method of coping with the stress that came with having an epileptic sister. His younger sister Hannah suffers from severe epilepsy, and reportedly suffers over fifty seizures in an hour at times.
• Colfer was bullied so severely in middle school that he was home-schooled for half of 7th grade and 8th grade.
• Colfer had auditioned in "Glee" for the part of Arty, the geeky singer and guitarist in a wheelchair that later went to Kevin McHale. He, however, impressed the creators, especially Ryan Murphy, so much that they wrote a part for him.
• A real-life experience from his school life was turned into a sub-plot for Chris' character Kurt on "Glee", wherein his high school teachers stopped him from singing "Defying Gravity" from the musical "Wicked", as it is traditionally performed by a woman.
• Colfer had never been outside the United States until he went to Australia in September 2009 to promote "Glee".
• Colfer has a visible scar on the left side of his neck from a surgery in 1998.
• Chris is dating post-production coordinator Will Sherrod, who also has a blog, called "Chill With Will".