Taye Diggs knows how to handle questions from prying members of the paparazzi: He just completely makes stuff up.
The actor, who will soon be the first African-American to play the eponymous genderqueer character in Broadway hit “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” told a TMZ photographer asking about his preparation for the role that he went through “a drag queen” phase in high school, and even experimented with “ass play.”
“There’s a lot of glitter. I mean, I went through a stage where I was a drag queen in high school in tenth and eleventh grade, and I experimented with homosexuality, ass play. And outside of that I worked the streets, male prostitution,” Diggs said while maintaining a straight face. “I’m kidding.”
When the photographer finally got clued in on the joke and said “you were born for this role,” Diggs added: “I have a flaming homosexual inside of me, so I’m raring to let that out.”
Hedwig was previously played by Neil Patrick Harris, “Girls” star Andrew Rannells, and “Glee” star Darren Criss.
The rock musical tells the tale of Hedwig, the Angry Inch’s lead singer who assumed a female persona after a botched sex change operation, which was performed to allow him to marry an American man and escape East Germany.
On a more serious note, Diggs said he’s “honored and flattered” to have gotten the role, which is “a lot of work.” Right now, he’s just trying to “memorize all of the material.”
Diggs stars in a limited 12-week engagement starting July 22 at the Belasco Theatre in New York. This will mark his first New York stage role since the 2005 revival of “A Soldier’s Play.”