A bittersweet impact. Glee was already over when Naya Rivera died in 2020, however her costars Jenna Ushkowitz and Kevin McHale consider her demise led to therapeutic among the many surviving solid members.
“Everybody was so emotionally uncooked and simply type of like, ‘How is that this occurring? Why is that this occurring?’ Let’s speak about it,” McHale, 34, solely instructed Us Weekly on Monday, October 31, whereas selling his “And That’s What You REALLY Missed” podcast. “Let’s speak about every little thing. … It was very nice that everyone may discover a house to really feel snug and open and trusting sufficient to do this.”
Jenna Ushkowitz, Kevin McHale and Naya Rivera insetted. Shutterstock (2)
Rivera’s July 2020 demise at age 33 occurred across the similar time that lots of her Glee castmates started talking out about what their time on the present was actually like, and the American Horror Tales alum doesn’t assume it was a coincidence.
“Considering again on, like, funnily within the spirit of Naya, who would simply converse her thoughts and was so good at ensuring all of us spoke our thoughts and spoke up for one another … it was bizarre timing,” the Texas native instructed Us. “Like, why is that this occurring now?”
McHale and Ushkowitz, 36, famous that Cory Monteith‘s 2013 demise didn’t have fairly the identical impact as a result of Glee was nonetheless airing, however when Rivera handed, the Fox present was far sufficient prior to now that they may start to heal. (Mark Salling, who performed Puck, died by suicide in 2018 after pleading responsible to fees of possessing little one pornography.)
“[Cory] did convey us collectively as properly … however we had been nonetheless doing the present,” Ushkowitz instructed Us. “There was loads to lose. There have been, you realize, jobs at stake. There was only a lot. Like Kevin stated, after Naya handed, it was like we had plenty of house away from the present and plenty of time to course of, and lots of people had time to truly sit with their emotions. And I believe that was additionally actually good for us as a result of we had had the time to mirror.”
Jenna Ushkowitz, Kevin McHale and Naya Rivera. Amanda Schwab/Starpix/Shutterstock
The Tony Award winner and the previous NLT vocalist are planning to go deep on Glee of their new iHeart podcast, which debuted its first episode final month. The duo beforehand cohosted a podcast referred to as “Showmance,” which went on indefinite hiatus after the demise of Rivera.
For his or her first episode, they rewatched the pilot and interviewed cocreator Ryan Murphy, who admitted that psychological well being within the office wasn’t mentioned as a lot in 2009 when the present premiered.
“We wish to dive into a few of these issues and the way that may’ve affected us in another way had it been 2022,” Ushkowitz instructed of Us of why she and McHale determined to relaunch their podcast now. “It’ll be onerous, however I’m gonna inform it from my perspective and my expertise as a result of that’s all I can do.”
McHale, for his half, stated he’s excited to offer context for youthful viewers who’re watching the present for the primary time. “There was this, like, unusual and great resurgence — most likely because of TikTok — of an entire new era of individuals discovering it,” he defined. “I believe that additionally has impressed us to do that within the first place as a result of for some purpose, persons are nonetheless speaking concerning the present, and it’s good to have the ability to return and see the enjoyment and all the good issues that we had been in a position to be part of.”
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
