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Apparently, Matthew Morrison was ready to leave Glee well before the final season!
Perezcious readers will recall he portrayed teacher and glee club director Will Schuester on the popular show for six seasons from 2009 to 2015. But during an interview on And That’s What You REALLY Missed podcast on Thursday, he revealed to his former co-stars Kevin McHale and Jenna Ushkowitz that he planned to quit the series during its fifth season to pursue other projects! Matthew said:
“I actually was trying to get off the show. In season five, I asked to be off the show because I was just like, ‘I’m no longer being used in the way that I wanted to.’ And no disrespect to the show. We are at a high, I was like, ‘Maybe if I get off the show, I could go do something else, go do a movie or whatever.’ And they agreed to let me off the show.”
Related: Glee Stars Reveal Which Episode Feels ‘Morbid’ Following Cory Monteith’s Death
However, plans changed when tragedy struck. Cory Monteith, who played Finn Hudson, died from a fatal overdose in July 2013, and producers couldn’t let Matthew go anymore. The Broadway star said he was told “they couldn’t do it” after Cory passed away. He also knew had to stay for the sake of the show. The 45-year-old actor said:
“Obviously, I understood. Trying to reconcile my own wants and selfish needs with the grief of losing an amazing friend, it was a lot of mixed emotions. But I’m a professional, I showed up. I did my job.”
It also helped that he got a “good pay increase,” according to Matthew. Ultimately, he pointed out that it all “worked out” in the end. But one thing that made him miserable working on Glee still? The intense online criticism of his character. Matthew later explained on the podcast he came so stressed out amid the “high highs” and “really devastating lows” of the show that he broke out with psoriasis at one point:
“You have these newsfeeds coming out, bashing the way you’re playing your character. People trying to tear you down, and that got interesting. I was just stressed. Our bodies are not designed to go through that kind of pressure.”
Oof. Despite the less-than-gleeful moments, Matthew is forever thankful to have been a part of a show that had such a big “cultural impact.” He expressed:
“The impact, that’s the thing that will stand the test of time. For me, that’s a beautiful thing. There are few and far between shows that have a cultural impact and a societal impact for people. I love being a part of that legacy.”
Reactions, Perezcious readers? Were you surprised Matthew wanted to leave Glee early? Let us know in the comments below.
[Image via Glee/Hulu]
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