"Hollywood" Star Darren Criss’s Wife, Mia Swier, Is a Seriously Cool Rocker

From Oprah Magazine

• Darren Criss stars as director Raymond Ainsley in Hollywood, a new Netflix series from Ryan Murphy.

• The Emmy Award-winning actor married Mia Swier in 2018, after being together for over seven years.

• Swier is a producer, director, musician, and owner of a piano bar in Los Angeles.

In the new Netflix show Hollywood, Darren Criss plays Raymond Ainsley, an up-and-coming director with a revolutionary vision.

Most of Criss's screen time in Hollywood is spent charming the costumes off of Laura Harrier, who plays actress Camille Washington. But there’s a leading lady in Criss's real life who we’d like you to meet: Mia Swier.

After dating for seven-and-a-half years, Criss, 33, and Swier, 34, decided to "kick those adventures up a notch" and get engaged in 2018. They met long long before Criss became a leading man in Ryan Murphy's shows, like Glee and The Assassination of Gianni Versace. In addition to starring in Hollywood, Criss served as an executive producer. Unfortunately, Criss lost his father just days before the show's premiere.

Like her multi-hyphenate husband, Swier has many talents: She's a producer, writer, bassist, and vocalist, who loves singing the music of Guns N’ Roses. The couple joins creative forces with their piano bar, Tramp Stamp Granny's, in Hollywood. Read on to learn more about Swier, the woman who turns “the music up” in Criss’s life, per his Emmys acceptance speech.

Darren and Mia began dating before he was famous.

According to Criss's Instagram post announcing their engagement, the couple met in 2010. Criss and Swier haven't shared the details of their origin story, but we know this much: Swier has witnessed Criss's ascent to fame first-hand.

"We met before I knew I was going to be on TV," Criss said on The Roz & Mocha Show. Unfortunately, the couple has had to deal with the downside of fame. Swier has been the frequent target of hate from Criss's fans. "It's the worst. People are so mean," Criss continued.

She graduated from NYU.

According to Marie Claire, Swier got her bachelor’s degree from New York University, then attended New York Film Academy. She also was an intern at Saturday Night Live, per her IMdB page.

Criss, on the other hand, studied at the University of Michigan. While there, he made national headlines for starring in a famous musical parody, A Very Potter Musical.

She's been a director and producer for a decade.

According to her IMdB page, Swier currently works as a producer for Fox. Over the course of her career, Swier has directed promotional content for many Fox and Showtime shows, including Scream Queens, Glee, Homeland, and Shameless. Fun fact: She also directed Keke Palmer's first-ever music video for "I Don't Belong to You."

In 2009, she co-founded the production company Effin Media with Dan Bricker. She co-wrote and directed the parody film "A (Not So) Civil Union," about a lesbian couple getting married.

The couple's wedding broke from tradition—including the shoes Mia paired with her dress.

"The whole goal of our wedding was to take traditions and turn them on their heads with our own flair," Criss told Vogue of the New Orleans-set ceremony. In a modern twist, Criss and Swier walked down the aisle together.

The four-day wedding bonanza featured many highlights, like a vintage red Rolls Royce convertible, the presence of John Stamos, and a rock concert that kicked off at 10 p.m the night of the wedding (shots of tequila and espresso were served).

Another stand-out was Swier's tulle dress, custom made by Vera Wang. “Mia is a free-spirit, artistic, passionate, a musician in her own right!” Wang told Vogue. “I envisioned this dress with a bodice of vintage detail and exposed garters dripping over a bed of distressed tulle! I cannot think of a more seductive, playful, or charming look for such a unique bride.” Swier paired the dress with white Dr. Martens.

She's the front-woman of a Guns N’ Roses tribute band.

Swier sings and plays bass guitar for Guns N' Hoses, an all-female Guns N’ Roses tribute band that she founded in 2012. Her stage name? Mia Von Glitz.

Swier takes Halloween very, very seriously.

Last year, Criss posted a series of Instagram pics proving that the couple do cosplay harder and better than most. “By the end of October, Mia clocked in at 7, and having made 3 for me—that’s 10 costumes total. Yeah we went a little extra this round...but THIS IS HALLOWEEN,” Criss wrote on his Instagram caption.

She "turns the music up” in Criss’s life.

In his acceptance speech at the 2018 Emmy Awards for his role in The Assassination of Gianni Versace, Criss gave Swier a sweet shout-out. Criss describes Swier as the person who “[rolls] the windows down and [turns] the music up in my life,” per Billboard.

The couple owns a piano bar in L.A.

In 2018, they opened their piano bar on Hollywood's Cahuenga Boulevard. The joint is called Tramp Stamp Granny’s as a tribute to Criss' grandmother. “The name is a way of taking back the phrase ‘tramp stamp’ and commemorating a generation of tatted grannies,” The Hollywood Reporter explained in a piece about the bar.

At the music joint, celebrity guests like Jon Hamm and Ricky Martin join civilians in belting out classic songs in an intimate atmosphere. “It’s as if an old Broadway piano bar went on a nasty drug binge and woke up with a face tattoo but, like, in the best way,” said Superstore actor Ben Feldman.

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