Super held ?Glee?s? Harry Shum Jr. hostage in a hotel room where he jumped on the bed, spilled his ?Glee? secrets and talked about his newfound love for the Philippines
LIKE YOU, WE WERE DYING FOR a ?Glee? fix.

When we found out that there wouldn?t be new episodes of the hit TV show until April, the staff of Super freaked out just like every other Gleek in the world. We asked one another?how will we survive until then?

Then, we got excellent news.

Harry Shum Jr., who plays Mike Chang (yes, The Other Asian) on ?Glee,? was headed here for the holidays with his Filipino girlfriend Shelby Rabara to visit her hometown in Pangasinan. (Find out more about the dancer/actress in another Super issue.)

We did what any ?Glee? fan would do.

Kidnapped

A few days after Christmas, we ?kidnapped? Harry from Pangasinan and held him ?hostage? at Mandarin Oriental in Makati. There, we made him jump on the hotel bed, fought the urge to ask him for a slushie facial, and tried to make him spill all his ?Glee? secrets.

He didn?t resist too much.

A few days before our shoot, Harry posted on Twitter: ?I am Chinese but I feel like I have a hint of Filipino lying in me somewhere... loving it here.? He documented his trip on his Twitter (http://twitter.com/iharryshum) and Tumblr (http://shumbodynamedharry.tumblr.com) pages, posting before and after pictures of his Chowking halo-halo, a video of a weird walking doll at SM Baguio, and what he calls ?the worst mash-up of products ever??a photo of a sanitary pads-and-sardines bundle being sold in a supermarket.

We celebrated Harry?s newfound love for the Philippines by asking him to wear Pinoy pride shirts from Collezione C2 and Bench?s Pinoy Lab in the shoot. ?These are cool!? he said. Then, pointing to the yellow Ninoy shirt from Pinoy Lab, he said: ?I like this shirt a lot.?

Dancing

There are a lot of things Harry likes; dancing is atop the list. He danced while waiting to be photographed, while changing shirts, while being photographed.

He was a big ball of energy?energy you hope to see even more in future episodes.

You?ve seen his work?in iPod commercials, in ?Shark Tale,? in ?You Got Served,? ?Stomp the Yard,? ?Step Up 2? and onstage with Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez, Mariah Carey, among others.

But he considers ?Glee? his biggest break. ?It definitely has changed my life.?

By the time you read this, Harry will be back in the US, ready to shoot new episodes. He is also very excited about the ?Legion of Extraordinary Dancers? (www.thelxd.com), an online dance series he?s been working hard on. ?I think we?re doing things that haven?t been done.?

In this exclusive, Harry talks about his love for dancing, his other projects, his trip to the Philippines and the craziness of ?Glee?s? success.

Is it true you were born in Costa Rica?

Yes, very true. I was born in Costa Rica, in San Jose. My parents moved there from HK and China. I stayed there ?til I was about five, then made that big trip to the US.

Why did you move?

My parents! They actually had a good business in Costa Rica but decided to take the trip for a better life for me and two older sisters.

When did you discover your love for dancing?

Didn?t happen ?til high school. Early in my high school year, a friend dared me to join the dance team. I actually had to audition and ended up making it.

How did you learn to dance so well?

Training was music videos, watching music videos (laughs). I started going to different dance classes. But hip-hop wasn?t really big in our little city. It was in Arroyo Grande, San Luis Obispo in California. Hip-hop wasn?t really known and guys dancing wasn?t really happening much at all. I wanted to kind of change that with a couple of my friends and we did.

What was it like dancing with Beyonce?

Oh man! It?s funny. They needed another dancer and one of the dancers knew me and said: ?Harry, you know, I think you?d be good for this.? I went on tour with her and it was one of the best experiences of my life. Just being onstage with the legendary Beyonce is incredible.

What about all the others?Mariah, Jennifer Lopez, Jessica Simpson?

It?s crazy because all of them work differently. It?s just fun seeing them in their mode and being onstage with them is something only very few people get to do and I consider myself lucky.

What do you consider your first big break?

I do different things?commercials, movies, TV. ?Glee,? in terms of acting, is definitely my big breakthrough. I come from a dancing background so I do a lot of dancing jobs.

What was the first big one?

Hmm. I would have to say the iPod.

You were one of the silhouettes in the iPod commercials.

Yeah. Even though you can?t really see me, it was really great for me. Because from there, I started to do a lot more. It became a nice steady job.

How did you get that job?

I made a tape of myself for this choreographer because I always wanted to work with her. I made a tape of myself free-styling, which I sent to her. I didn?t hear from her for a couple of months, then suddenly she called: ?Hey we?re doing this testing for this iPod thing.? That was when no one had heard of iPods. She told me to come on, I did, and it was the coolest thing I ever did.

How did you get your role in ?Glee??

I auditioned. Hundreds of people did. I had to sing.

Do you sing well?

Yeah, I could sing, uh-huh. They liked me. I didn?t hear from them for a while either (laughs). That whole process, that?s the most grueling. Then I got the job.

Do you remember where you were when you got the call?

Let me see. (laughs) Actually, I got an e-mail, then my manager called. Funny thing is, I didn?t know how big it was. I didn?t know what ?Glee? was. I heard it was Ryan Murphy, there would be dancing and singing, it would be a really cool project. But I had no idea it would be this big.

Also, I didn?t know I was gonna be on the show that long. They said one episode, then it turned into two, three...

Cool. What song did you sing in the audition?

I sang Nat King Cole?s ?L-o-v-e.?

Did you dance?

I knew the choreographer, he?s seen me dance and I have a lot of stuff on the web so that was my dance audition. I was lucky to have that.

What are things like on the set?

They?re craaaazy! It?s different from other sets because there?s a lot of rehearsals, then you go and shoot it. Sometimes you learn the dances right before shooting so it is in a way nuts because you don?t have much time. Sometimes we?d go 12 to 15 hours a day so they?re long hours but luckily we have a good cast so everyone?s really fun.

Who are you closest to?

This sounds cheesy but I?m close to all in different ways. Everyone has his perks and things they like so I get along with them in different ways. I have a good sense of humor with a lot of them, a lot of them I share activities we talk about.

Do you guys hang out off set?

Oh yeah, yeah. What?s crazy is we hang out a lot on set, then we end up hanging out a lot off set.

What can you tell us about Lea Michele?

Incredible, incredible singer.

Chris Colfer?

He is one of the funniest. He is subtly funny.

Dianna Agron?

The sweetest.

Mark Salling?

Mark? (laughs) We have good inside jokes. Can?t tell you what they are. But...(laughs)

Cory?

Cory is... Frankenteen! (laughs) He is very knowledgeable.

Amber?

Amber is crazy vocals. Man, that girl got pipes on her.

Shelby was on ?Glee? too right?

She?s in Vocal Adrenaline. We got to try and beat them. ?Try? is the key word. They?re amazing, amazing. I don?t know how we will beat them. Just tune in.

You said you haven?t been slushied but have you ever thrown one?

I have, I threw it on Mr. Schuster. That was in the wee hours. We were so tired and we had one try. Just one try.

It was perfect.

Yeah it was. We got him good.

What?s your favorite ?Glee? song so far?

I would have to say ?Somebody to Love.?

Favorite episode?

A toss-up between ?Wheels? and ?Vitamin D.?

How did you guys prepare for ?Wheels??

We were in wheelchairs all week. It is more difficult than you think. You think, ?Oh, I can sit in a chair and wheel around,? but it?s really difficult to control. And sometimes you just want to get up but you can?t because we still had to run a number. And going down those ramps, people were falling over. It was funny and also painful.

Did you expect ?Glee? to be this big?

No. No no no. I knew we had something special, first day on the set. But I had no idea it would become this world phenomenon. They just had this flash mob over in Italy.

And when those things happen, that?s when it sets in, that it?s so worldwide.

Do you remember your first day on the set?

First day on the set, I had to learn ?Single Ladies? in about five minutes. I got on set and they were like, ?Okay, you?re gonna learn ?Single Ladies? and we?re gonna film it.? That was my first experience on the ?Glee? set.

If there was one song you could sing on ?Glee,? what would it be?

Anything. I would go from Michael Jackson all the way to polar opposite Bobby Darin.

How has ?Glee? changed things for you?

Oh man, it definitely has changed my life. Especially my career. I?ve had a lot of things to benefit from just being part of this cast, and learning a lot, I think that?s a big thing. And being able to travel to different places, I think that?s great.

Do you have crazy fans chasing you?

I dunno about chasing me (laughs), maybe following me online. That?s a little different. I wouldn?t go as far as chasing.

I see that you?re active on Tumblr and Twitter?you really an Internet person?

Yeah, I love the Internet.

And you have a YouTube account, too? Because we saw your rap video.

(laughs) Becoming worldwide! Yeah! Funny, I made that YouTube just to put random things on and now people are subscribing like crazy. I get new e-mails every five minutes from people subscribing. I might have to put some worthy content there.

We noticed too that ?Glee? cast members are all connected on Twitter ?coz you guys are all..

Yeah, we?re all in different places. Everyone?s hanging out in different parts of the country and the world so it?s fun to keep in touch.

You have any idea what?s gonna happen next on ?Glee??

You know, we get the scripts a week before for each episode. That?s when we kinda know.

But we know there?s gonna be a Madonna episode right?

That we do know. They?re working hard on that. That?s gonna be a great episode.

You said you get really long days on the set. How crazy does it get?

It depends. We?re there a good 13, 14, sometimes 15 hours. Long long days. We have rehearsals simultaneously. There?s usually a prep week before so there?s really no time off. I?m not complaining though. I?m happy.

What do you love the most about being on ?Glee??

You know what really makes me smile? The fans and the stuff they get so excited for. I think that?s what?s so awesome about it. That?s what?s cool about being on Twitter and Tumblr, you get to see feedback, what they liked, didn?t like, what makes them excited. It?s cool because sometimes fans come up and say this show changed my life. Really? Changed your life? And it really has! And they really mean it. I think that?s the special part of being a part of the show.

What else are you busy with aside from ?Glee??

We just got done shooting ?Legion of Extraordinary Dancers.? It uses dance for story-telling. Really really cool visuals. I think we?re doing things that haven?t been done. Of course the people in the project are John Chu of ?Step Up? 2 and 3 and the other choreographer?s Chris Scott. We just got done with ?So You Think You Can Dance.? We also just finished shooting some more episodes that should be launching early next year so check it out. It?s gonna be awesome.

And you?re doing ?Step Up 3D??

?Step Up 3D? comes out in August. It?s crazy when you?re on-set, you get to look at playback and you put the glasses on and there?s a 47-inch screen and you see this stuff happening in 3D. It?s like watching it live.

What do you do to relax?

I love being on the computer, playing video games, watching movies.

What are the songs you play most on your iPod?

I?m really digging the new Michael Buble and Passion Pit is definitely something that?s in rotation and there?s this new band called The Futhamuckas, they?re really good.

What video games do you play?

I?m trying to beat ?Uncharted 2? and that?s the first thing I?m gonna do when I get back home.

Tell us about your visit to the Philippines. How long ago did you plan this?

I didn?t buy my ticket until three days before. I was shooting ?LXD? episodes and didn?t know my schedule yet. But we ended up leaving and the experience has been great. I always hear about the food here and I never got to really try it and I got to really experience everything that?s fresh...

Including Chowking halo-halo.

Yeah, Chowking halo-halo, and then we went to Pangasinan, that?s where we got to try some home-cooked meals. I still haven?t tried balut.

What have been your favorite memories from this trip?

My favorite memory is seeing how everyone is so happy. Even going to Baguio...just seeing everyone is living a simple life and just so happy. I think that?s what I got from this trip. And also eating some really good adobo. Oh, and the mash-up products?that is one of the funniest things I?ve ever seen. Oh my god, it is so funny. I have taken a lot of good pictures and I will post them soon.

What?s your favorite place here?

I only got to go to Urdaneta (Pangasinan). I really loved Baguio. Shopping there was really cool. Then we went to the church in Manaoag.

What else did you do?

We went to a village party, it was like going to junior high. Because once the lights were turned off, everyone runs to the middle floor to slow-dance and when the lights turn on, they run away and the floor?s cleared. I was showing the little kids how to moonwalk, it was really cool, it was really fun. It was cool to see everyone have fun.

Do you have a message for your fans in the Philippines?

Genuinely, thank you for the support. I did not know how many people watched ?Glee? until I came here. It?s funny because I judge it also a lot on Twitter. I got to say 50 or 60 percent of people who follow me there are from the Philippines. Thank you, thank you for watching and being so supportive of the show.

Will we be seeing you back here?

I would love to come back. I hope the opportunity arises. I would love to come back. I love it here. And I would love to explore more and I wish I had more time to spend here.

Still not enough ?Glee?? Keep checking out Super for more on Harry and the other Gleeks. E-mail the author at pajammy@gmail.com.