 The episode introduced Criss as Blaine , a gay member of a rival glee club , the Dalton Academy Warblers . In September 2010 , a casting call was released for an actor to portray a " cute , charismatic , gay high school junior " who would lead a competing glee club . Criss had auditioned for Glee several times before , once for the role of Finn Hudson . The character breakdown for Blaine was the first he believed he had a chance of securing , and indeed his audition was successful . Blaine was introduced primarily as a mentor to Kurt . Criss explained , " At this point , Kurt 's [ sexuality ] has been such a sense of discord in his life . Blaine finds [ being gay ] empowering . He embraces who he is , and sees Kurt [ struggling with ] the same things that he had to deal with , and I think he wants to impart that knowledge . " Murphy described Blaine as a character with " great self @-@ loathing " and regret for having run away from his own tormentors ; he intended this to form part of his story arc for the season , as Blaine tries to set right some past mistakes . Neither he nor Criss knew whether Blaine would eventually become Kurt 's boyfriend — a role originally intended for new club member Sam Evans ( Chord Overstreet ) until the producers decided to change Sam to heterosexual and paired him with Quinn — but based on the characters ' chemistry and the " immediate outcry " from fans who wanted to see them as a couple , Murphy later decided to pair them romantically . 
