Cory Monteith's “Glee” Costars Admit Drug Overdose Plot Still Hits 'Too Close to Home' 10 Years After His Death
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Monteith died at age 31 after an accidental overdose in 2013
Glee alums Jenna Ushkowitz and Kevin McHale are getting real about how an "eerie" storyline on the hit musical dramedy now hits different following the tragic death of their former costar Cory Monteith.
On Monday's episode of their And That’s What You REALLY Missed podcast, Ushkowitz, 37, and McHale, 35, reacted to season 3's episode 9 where Monteith's character, Finn Hudson, is told by his mother Carole (Romy Rosemont) that his father died of a drug overdose while serving in the U.S. Army.
“He died in Cincinnati after being dishonorably discharged,” Carole explained on the show. “Honey, he had a drug problem that he tried to get over when he came home — for you, mostly — but then he would just disappear for a day or a week sometimes. One day, he just didn’t come back. It was an overdose.”
Related: The 'Glee' Cast: Life after Loss
Admitting that the episode "hit a little too close to home" now, the duo confessed that the storyline threw them for a loop as they had no memory of the scene.
“We probably don’t remember it because we thought it was just another story line for Finn that was really well done,” Ushkowitz said. “But in hindsight, the whole through line of this story line — every line that he said about it — really just struck a different chord that resonated or mirrored his life too closely. It was just really sad to watch.”
“Yeah, it felt really dark and morbid watching it," McHale added. "But obviously, there was no way to know what the future was going to be... it just felt very eerie.”
Monteith played Finn Hudson on the popular Fox series from its premiere in May 2009 until his sudden death from a drug overdose at age 31 on July 13, 2013.
In November 2022, Glee creator Ryan Murphy revealed his thoughts about filming the show following Monteith's death while appearing on the And That's What You REALLY Missed podcast.
Only one month after Monteith's death, the cast filmed a tribute episode titled "The Quarterback", which aired Oct. 10, 2013 as part of the show's fifth season. Murphy expressed that if it were up to him, the show would have "stopped for a very long time and probably not come back."
Related: Cory Monteith's Former Roommate Shares Memories of His 'Goofball' Late Friend: 'He Changed My Life'
"It's an episode I was able to watch once," he said of the tribute episode. "And I never looked at it again."
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"Now if this had happened, I would be like, 'That's the end,'" Murphy added. "Because you can't really recover from something like that."
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, please contact the SAMHSA helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.
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