Watch: Dianna Agron Says Late Glee Costars Still Feel "So Present"Dianna Agron will always hold her Glee family close to her heart. Just days before her fellow cast members-including Jane Lynch, Heather Morris and Chord Overstreet-reunited for the upcoming season of Celebrity Weakest Link, the 39-year-old took a moment to remember their late costars Cory Monteith, Naya Rivera and Mark Salling. "It's hard to think of our loved ones from the show not being present with us anymore because they feel so present in my heart, body, mind, soul, all of it," Dianna-who played head cheerleader Quinn Fabray in the series-said during the Aug. 13 episode of the And That's What You REALLY Missed podcast. "I think that tenderness I feel and the memories that I have-who Cory, Naya and Mark were as people, as cast members, as our friends and family-that's just so vivid." "That will never dissipate for me, ever," she continued. "I think there's beauty in that. I could replay memory after memory after memory."photosCory Monteith: Finn Hudson's Best Glee LinesWhile it has been seven years since Mark died by suicide and four years since Naya died in a boating accident, last month marked 11 years since Cory died of a drug overdose while the show was still in production. "He was a teddy bear," the Family actress recalled of her onscreen boyfriend. "I mean that in a way of his kindness and groundedness in himself was so perfect. He was this tall, big brotherly presence in all of our lives." "He was a few years older than us, and he just felt so safe and equally excited about what he was getting to experience with his character," she added. "His character had a leadership position in the show as well, and there was not an ungenerous bone in his body." Dianna's sweet words about her late costars come one month after Jane-who played cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester-reflected on her own time working with such a special cast.
Fox Network "Just such youth," she told E! News of her late costars. "They were so excited, as we all were. We knew that we were breathing rarefied air when the show became such a big hit." She added, "There's a big hole in our lives because of that." And for her part, Lea Michele-who was dating Cory before his death-recently revealed how difficult the grieving process truly was. "Life was very different," she told host Jake Shane on his Therapuss podcast in May. "I had a tour bus that would go past my house in West Hollywood, and you would hear it. I'd be in the house, it'd be like, 'Lea Michele, Rachel Berry on Glee.' And then I would hear 'Don't Rain on My Parade' playing while I'm sitting in my living room." To look back on more sweet memories from the cultural phenomenon that was Glee, keep reading.
Courtesy: Samsung GalaxyRyan's Regrets and RevealsA few years after Glee ended, Ryan Murphy reflected on the pop culture phenomenon and revealed how chaotic things were behind the scenes. "It was the best time in my life and the worst time in my life," he told Entertainment Weekly, going on to admit, "There was a lot of infighting. There was a lot of people sleeping together and breaking up. It was good training for being a parent, I'll tell you that much." He also reflected on his time on the show, looking back with some regret on how he handled things as the showrunner. "I was there with them all day long, and then we'd finish work and we'd go out and have fun all night, and I guess in a weird, twisted way, I was trying to relive the childhood I never had," he told THR. "I thought they wanted a parent, and they didn't. They didn't want me to tell them what to f-king do. They didn't want me to tell them how to treat each other or what the world was like at the end of the day. I wish I could go back and do that differently with a lot of those actors. Some of them I'm still very close to: Lea Michele, Chord Overstreet, Darren Criss - but there were some that didn't work out well, and I regret that. I guess I just wish I had been able to let them figure it out for themselves." Going on to create Scream Queens, American Horror Story, Pose and other hit series, Murphy said Glee "was a great lesson in what not to do moving forward." Fox Network Casting ChangesFun fact: Ryan Murphy wrote the role of Rachel Berry with Lea Michele, a Broadway standout thanks to Spring Awakening, in mind. But not every cast member's journey to becoming a Gleek was so easy. Before he was cast as Blaine, Criss auditioned for the role of Finn, the lead quarterback. "It was the first audition I ever had. I auditioned for the pilot," he revealed at the Paleyfest panel. "And then I remember watching the pilot to see who got the part [I went out for] and seeing Cory [Monteith got it] and thinking, oh, obviously, right." Another star who also auditioned for a different part was Colfer, who read for Artie originally. Producers were so impressed by the teen that they created the role of Kurt specifically for him. In fact, Murphy revealed Colfer's audit