Darren Criss: 'Disney inspired showbiz goals'

Darren Criss has confessed that a childhood love of Disney movies inspired him to become involved in acting.

In an interview with Billboard, the Glee star revealed that he was obsessed with Robin Williams's Genie character in the 1992 animated feature of Aladdin, and wanted to follow in the entertainer's footsteps based on that role alone.

"For me, it was Disney [that got me into acting]. I remember seeing people's reaction to 'Aladdin' and thinking, 'Oh, man, I want to be a genie when I grow up!'" he recalled.

"Robin Williams is a pretty big character in San Francisco. I was like, 'I want to do whatever that guy does. What does he do, Mum? He's an actor? Okay, I want to do that'."

With the recent announcement that Glee's Dalton Academy Warblers will release a record, Criss also discussed the possibility of releasing his own solo album in the future.

"We're working on it - we're really excited and it's something I've been wanting to do for a long time," he revealed. "I'm so thrilled that it's something that can happen because of Glee, and like the Warblers album I hope I can do it justice and make it something that people can really enjoy."