“I was obviously thrilled for all of them,” Glee creator Ryan Murphy said of the show’s whopping 19 Emmy nominations, “but the one that I was just like, ‘holy s&^t, that is just great!’ was Chris Colfer.”

Colfer, who plays Kurt Hummel on the series, scored a nod in the Best Supporting Actor category. Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother) and Jon Cryer (Two And a Half Men) are also among the list of nominees.

“I think that was such a crowded, difficult category with so many great people. And, you know, he’s 20 years old and this is the first thing he’s ever done. He literally got off a bus in Clovis and walked in, and we wrote the part for him. I was just like a proud papa with him,” Murphy continued. (The full story of Colfer’s audition can be seen in the Glee: Season One, Vol. 1 - Road to Sectionals DVD.)

“People love [Kurt], and I think it was risky for him to be that young and play somebody who was forthright and out and proud and struggling and flawed. But [Chris Colfer] stepped into those shoes and embraced [the character] and made it his own.”

Colfer’s Glee dad, Mike O’Malley, who plays Burt Hummel, was also nominated for an award in the Best Guest Actor (Comedy) category. Colfer said of the nod: “I feel like his own kid because I am so proud of him.”