With the new season of “Glee” set to begin on September 26, the show’s creator, Ryan Murphy, is revealing some details about the October 10 episode dedicated to the late Cory Monteith.
Although Fox President Kevin Reilly said the episode “will deal directly with drug addiction and with the circumstances surrounding Cory’s death,” a new interview with Deadline reports that idea won’t make it into the final episode.
Murphy says that the writers have been “reworking” the first two Beatles-themed episodes of the season and are set to shoot the memorial episode this week.
“There were a lot of things that we had to decide — how are we going to deal with his death? At one point, we were going to have his character die after an accidental drug overdose — that was something we had considered. But we have decided that we’re not going to have him pass from that,” Murphy explains. “Basically, what we’re doing in the episode is we are not telling you yet, or maybe not at all, how that character died. The idea being, how somebody died is interesting and maybe morbid, but we say very early on in the episode, ‘This episode is about a celebration of that character’s life’.”
He noted that any other way of remembering Monteith, who died on July 13, would feel “really exploitative.” He added, “But I think it turned out to be a lovely tribute, and it’s a very heartfelt look at how young people grieve.”
After they wrap on the episode, he confirms that there will be a break in production. “We loved Cory and we loved Finn and it feels like a huge loss and a huge heartache not to have either of them around,” he said. “We’re trying to craft an episode that’s not just about us grieving but about a lot of the young fans grieving.”
Aside from the “Glee” episode, a tribute is also planned for the Emmy Awards, airing in September. His co-star and real-life girlfriend, Lea Michele, tearfully remembered him during the Teen Choice Awards last Sunday. Two of Monteith’s final films, and “All the Wrong Reasons,” are set to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.
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