Glee's Kevin McHale, Jenna Ushkowitz Share the 'Peculiar' Way They Cope with Cory Monteith's Death 10 Years Later

On the 10-year anniversary of Cory Monteith’s death, his 'Glee' costars opened up how they've handled the grief: "We make a lot of dark jokes about it because if you don’t, you’re just gonna cry"

For the cast of Glee, laughter really is the best medicine.

On Wednesday's episode of their podcast And That’s What You REALLY Missed, hosts Kevin McHale and Jenna Ushkowitz, who played Artie and Tina respectively, discussed how they processed the death of their co-star Cory Monteith.

Joined by costar Ashley Fink, the three dug into their ways of grieving on the new episode, which was released this week but recorded on July 13, the 10-year anniversary of Monteith’s sudden death.

“10 years,” Fink, who played Lauren Zizes on the show, opened the conversation. “That’s like a lifetime. That’s like a third of our lives for us young ones.”

“That’s half my life,” Ushkowitz, 37, joked. “I’m 20.”

The trio laughed off the joke, ultimately opening up the conversation about how the Glee cast would use humor to deal with the pain of losing Monteith, who was found dead in 2013 as a result of a mixture of heroin and alcohol. He was 31.

Related: Kevin McHale Remembers Being 'In Shock' with Naya Rivera After Learning of Cory Monteith’s Death 10 Years Ago

"We make a lot of dark jokes about it because if you don’t, you’re just gonna cry,” McHale, 35, admitted. “It’s a coping mechanism, I think, because it’s gotten so crazy.”

Of course, the cast’s dark jokes don’t always make sense to those outside the core crew. McHale went on to describe an instance in which outside viewers were dumbfounded by the cast’s jokes.

“Ashley and I were at the Austin TV Festival and I made a joke like that and the room just went silent,” McHale recounted. “I realized it only works amongst us experienced in this very peculiar specific thing.”

Ushkowitz was quick to note, “We’ve all worked through it in therapy.”

“Our dark jokes, they were like ‘Wow, you guys probably need some help,’” Fink, 36, chimed in. “Oh no, we got it, this is how we cope.”

Earlier this month, McHale marked the 10-year anniversary of Monteith’s death on Twitter by recounting the tragic day. When McHale heard the news, he was with co-star Naya Rivera, who died in a drowning accident in 2020.

“10 years ago today I was in London with Naya. We immediately met up after being woken up by the worst possible news,” he shared. “We spent the day partly in shock, partly laughing at our memories, partly crying at the impossibility of it all.”

He continued: “10 years later, not a day has gone by where I don’t miss you - both of you. Thanks for sharing your light with us for as brief as it was.”

Related: Cory Monteith Honored by Lea Michele on the 10th Anniversary of His Death: 'Miss You Every Day'

Lea Michele, who also starred in Glee and dated Monteith off-screen, commemorated his death in her own way, sharing a sweet Instagram post.

Alongside a black-and-white photo of herself and Monteith holding each other close, Michele honored her late boyfriend.

“I hold all of our memories in my heart where they will stay safe and never forgotten,” Michele wrote. “We miss you every day and will never forget the light you brought to us all. I miss you big guy.”

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