With LGBTQ+ Pride Month now in full swing, Chris Colfer is reflecting on his own journey to living truthfully.

The California-born actor and author endeared himself to a generation of fans as Kurt Hummel on Glee , which ran from 2009 to 2015. Though his character was shown to be grappling with his queer sexuality throughout many of the musical series early episodes, Colfer said he was warned that revealing he was gay in real life would be detrimental to his Hollywood career.

When I read the script for the first time is when I saw it was an openly gay character, and I was terrified, Colfer recalled while appearing on The View this week. Once filming on Glee commenced, the actor said he had a lot of people tell me, Do not come out, whatever you do, because it will ruin your career. So I hid for a little bit.

As buzz about the show began ramping up, however, Colfer understood that hiding his true self would become more of a challenge.

I also told them, I cant hide it with my voice Im more effeminate than most people. I cant hide it, he explained. And they said, Dont worry. As long as you never address it, youll be rewarded for it in the end.