Mark Salling Makes "Sweet" Music on "Glee"

When viewers first met Noah “Puck” Puckerman, a brutish football player oozing testosterone, he was heaving Kurt Hummel into a dumpster at school. Later he turned out to be the father of Quinn Fabray’s and then he made quite an impression exiting a steam room after having apparently hit all the right notes with April Rhodes played by Kristin Chenoweth.

Given the show’s large cast, most folks probably thought there wasn’t going to be much more to Puck, but on last night’s episode “Mash-Up” viewers not only say a softer side to Puck, but also learned he really could hit all the right notes with his rendition of Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline.”

AfterElton.com caught up the 27-year-old actor/musician to talk about his gay following, what it’s like to be part of a hit show, and, of course, those Purt videos.

AfterElton.com: We posted your clip of you singing "Sweet Caroline" this weekend, and immediately got a huge reaction from our readers. You know this means you now have a big gay following, don't you?
Mark Salling: Uh...big gay following, huh? [laughs] No. Is that the case?

AE: Yeah, that is the case. Unfortunately, some of those guys are going to be crushed since you were singing that to Rachel, weren't you?
MS: [laughs] You can tell them I was singing it to Kurt.

AE: I don't know. They're already hoping for a Purt pairing, but I think we could tell from the video that you were singing to Rachel. I saw your tweet about the clip of Puck and Kurt cut to look like they were a couple. Do you remember sending that out?
MS: Yeah.

AE: You seem to have a pretty good sense of humor about that whole thing.
MS: [laughs] I think it's hilarious.

AE: Were you surprised to see Purt come up as a couple? That the fans went there and made that pairing?
MS: It's kind of creepy. It's cool, but it's like Chris is so young, and I'm old. I'm 27 and Chris just turned 19.

AE: I don’t think they're pairing you – Mark and Chris Colfer. They're pairing Puck and Kurt who are technically in high school. Although, as you say, it is funny to see a 27-year-old in high school. You're only three years younger than Matthew Morrison, Puck’s teacher.
MS: I know. It's crazy.

AE: How do you play a high school kid? Do you just say Glee has a fun, off-the-wall sense of humor and you're not even thinking about being ten years older than your character?
MS: The whole show is a little tongue-in-cheek. I remember in the breakdown for the show, when they were describing his character in the very beginning, it's like Puck: a man-child. They described him as a man-child, so I figured a couple crow's-feet might be alright.