Lea Michele says she "wasn't allowed to stop" filming Glee when Corey Monteith died
9 May 2025, 16:03
Lea Michele and Cory Monteith had been dating for over a year when he tragically passed away.
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Lea Michele has opened up about filming Glee in the wake of Corey Monteith's death and how difficult it was for her.
After playing love interests on screen in Glee, Lea Michele and Corey Monteith officially began dating each other four years after the show debuted. However, Corey passed away in July 2013 shortly before production on Glee season 5 was due to begin. In spite of Corey's death, Glee season 5 went ahead with his character, Finn, dying in the show.
Now, Lea Michele has revealed that she "wasn't allowed to stop" filming the show while she was grieving his death.
- Read more: Matthew Morrison says he wasn't allowed to leave Glee after Cory Monteith died
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Speaking to Jake Shane on Therapuss, Lea Michele explained that working in the wake of Corey's death "was so sad, it was so depressing." She then added: "It was so unbelievable but I just had to keep going, I wasn't allowed to stop."
Lea then added: “If we didn’t show up for work, then people wouldn’t have work to go to. That was a lot of pressure for me. I had to put my stuff aside and show up so that everybody could just continue to work.”
When asked if the cast "banded together" after Corey died. Lea said: “I think in some ways it did for certain people, but I think that for me it was so hard. I just completely broke. I was in a one-track mind of just doing my job. It was way too much to try to process at a young age, but I’m very grateful for everyone there."
She then continued: "Whether or not they know it, I personally felt a lot of support from everybody in the building helping me to get through.”
Lea said it was the crew members who helped her the most: “They were holding me up so much as well as the people who were on the show. But a lot of [the original cast] were gone by then, which was hard.”
Glee aired for two more seasons after Corey's death ending with season 6 in 2015.
Read more Capital Buzz news here:
- Glee's Amber Riley explains why she refused to film sex scene between Mercedes and Sam
- Ryan Murphy admits Glee should have ended after Cory Monteith’s death
- Kevin McHale says he wouldn’t play Artie again in a Glee reboot
- Glee cast reunite for new Naya Rivera song three years after her death
- Ryan Murphy is considering bringing back Glee with a reboot
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