Darren Criss: Warblers Work the 'Today' Show

Darren Criss heads into the Today show studios on Tuesday (April 11) in New York City.

The 24-year-old Glee star performed Train’s “Hey, Soul Sister” with the Warblers and also promoted their new album, Glee: The Music Presents the Warblers.

Darren recently chatted about meeting Gwyneth Paltrow, who returned as substitute teacher Holly Holliday on the hit Fox show.

“I had to kind of go out of my way to say hi because I was so starstruck,” he told Access Hollywood.

“My character doesn’t go to the school. We’re doing our own other show, we shoot in a different area, different people, so I was on set once and I pretended to go get floss or something completely arbitrary … She’s very sweet. She’s been very kind to me. She’s been very amazing,” he added.

Darren Criss: Solo Album in the Works!

Darren Criss wears his Warblers uniform on the cover of Billboard magazine’s latest issue, on newsstands Monday (April 18).

Here’s what the 24-year-old Glee actor and singer had to share:

On why he got into musical theater: “For me, it was Disney. I remember seeing people’s reaction to Aladdin and thinking, ‘Oh, man, I want to be a genie when I grow up!’ 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, Mom? He’s an actor? OK, I want to do that.’”

On the possibility of recording a solo album with Sony: “We’re working on it - we’re really excited and it’s something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time. 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.”

On getting prepared for the Glee tour: A year ago, I was so psyched that my first show in L.A. was at the Troubadour. Talk about so much for baby steps. It’s like, ‘Wait - Staples Center, are you kidding me?’ I was happy to drive around in a beat-up, crappy old van with my bandmates and just go to small clubs around the country.”

For more from Darren, visit Billboard.com!

Bigger cover pic inside…