How to Succeed Headliner Darren Criss to Sing Backstreet Boys Music in Imogene, Co-Starring Kristen Wiig

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying star Darren Criss rose to teen idol status on Glee thanks to his cover of Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream,” and in his upcoming film Imogene, Criss will take on the music of another (former) teen sensation: The Backstreet Boys.

In the movie, Criss plays a guy from New Jersey “in a '90s impersonation band,” the film's co-director Shari Springer Berman told New York Magazine. “I made him work really hard,” Berman said, without revealing which Backstreet Boys songs Criss would tackle. 

Imogene follows Bridesmaids' Kristen Wiig as a semi-successful playwright who fakes a suicide attempt to get the attention of an ex-boyfriend. After her plan fails, she ends up back in New Jersey living with her drug addict mom (Annette Benning), and sparks a relationship with a younger man (Criss).

"[Filming was] like a big old smile," Criss said of his first major film project. "I haven't seen it yet, but it's a delightful little story." Criss also had nothing but praise for his co-star Wiig. “She’s incredible. She’s a phenomenal star, and she deserves everything that’s coming her way right now.”

Imogene also co-stars Matt Dillon as well as theater veteran Natasha Lyonne and Tony nominee Christopher Fitzgerald (Finian's Rainbow). No release date has been set for the film.