Glee (TV Series) - Cast and Characters

Cast and Characters

In casting Glee, Murphy sought out actors who could identify with the rush of starring in theatrical roles. Instead of using traditional network casting calls, he spent three months on Broadway, where he found Matthew Morrison, who had previously starred on stage in Hairspray and The Light in the Piazza; Lea Michele, who starred in Spring Awakening; and Jenna Ushkowitz, who had been in the Broadway revival of The King and I.

Actors with no theatrical experience who auditioned were required to prove they could sing and dance as well as act. Chris Colfer had no previous professional experience, but Murphy wrote in the character Kurt Hummel for him to play. Jayma Mays auditioned with the song "Touch-a, Touch-a, Touch-a, Touch Me" from The Rocky Horror Show, while Cory Monteith initially submitted a tape of himself acting only, and was requested to submit a second, musical tape, in which he sang "a cheesy, '80s music-video-style version" of REO Speedwagon's "Can't Fight This Feeling". Kevin McHale came from a boy-band background, having previously been part of the group Not Like Them. He explained that the diversity of the cast's backgrounds reflects the range of different musical styles within the show itself: "It's a mix of everything: classic rock, current stuff, R&B. Even the musical theatre stuff is switched up. You won't always recognize it." Jane Lynch was originally supposed to have a recurring role in the show, but was made a series regular when a Damon Wayans pilot she was working on for ABC fell through. The cast is contracted for a potential three Glee films, with their contract stating that " hereby grants Fox three exclusive, irrevocable options to engage in up to, respectively, three feature length motion pictures." Murphy said in December 2010 that he wasn't interested in doing a Glee movie "as a story", and added, "I might do it as a live concert thing." Glee: The 3D Concert Movie, filmed during the 2011 Glee Live! In Concert! tour, was released on August 12, 2011.

Glee has featured as many as fifteen main roles with star billing, after starting with twelve. Morrison plays Will Schuester, McKinley High's Spanish teacher, who becomes director of the glee club, hoping to restore it to its former glory. Lynch plays Sue Sylvester, head coach of the "Cheerios" cheerleading squad, and the Glee Club's arch-nemesis. Mays appears as Emma Pillsbury, the school's mysophobic guidance counselor who has feelings for Will, and Jessalyn Gilsig plays Terri Schuester, Will's wife whom he eventually divorces after five years of marriage—they separate when he discovers she has faked being pregnant instead of revealing she had suffered a false pregnancy. Michele plays Rachel Berry, talented star of the glee club who is often bullied by the Cheerios and football players, but grows closer to them as the show progresses. Rachel has an on and off relationship with Finn Hudson starting in season one, and the two become engaged in season three. Monteith played Finn, star quarterback of the school's football team who risks alienation by his friends after joining the glee club. Also in the club are Amber Riley as Mercedes Jones, a fashion-conscious diva who initially resents having to sing back-up; Colfer as Kurt Hummel, a fashionable gay male countertenor; McHale as Artie Abrams, a guitar player and paraplegic; and Ushkowitz as Tina Cohen-Chang, an Asian American student with a fake speech impediment. Dianna Agron plays Quinn Fabray, Finn's cheerleader girlfriend, who later joins the glee club to keep an eye on him. Mark Salling plays Noah "Puck" Puckerman, a good friend of Finn's on the football team who at first disapproves of Finn joining the glee club, but later joins the glee club himself. Naya Rivera and Heather Morris, who portray Cheerios and glee club vocalists Santana Lopez and Brittany Pierce respectively, were originally recurring actors, but starting in the second season were promoted to series regulars. Mike O'Malley, who plays Kurt's father Burt Hummel, also became a series regular on season two. Gilsig and O'Malley no longer appear on the list of starring actors at the beginning of the third season, though O'Malley will be appearing as a recurring guest star in at least six episodes during the season. Two actors were promoted to series regulars as of the third season: Harry Shum, Jr. as football player and glee club member Mike Chang and Darren Criss as former Dalton Academy Warbler and new club member Blaine Anderson, both of whom started as recurring actors, Shum in the first season and Criss in the second. For the fourth season, Chord Overstreet, who started as a recurring actor in the second season, playing glee club member Sam Evans, was promoted to the main cast, while Agron and Mays were credited as recurring guest stars.

Many of the original characters graduated from McKinley High at the end of the third season. Murphy said, "We didn't want to have a show where they were in high school for eight years. We really wanted to be true to that experience." Adult characters played by Matthew Morrison and Jane Lynch will remain to provide continuity to the series, though according to Falchuk, some students—Rachel, Finn and Kurt in particular—will likely remain on the show after they graduate. In May 2012, Murphy said that just because a character on the show graduates high school does not mean that they are leaving, "A lot of people have been writing Dianna's off the show, Amber's off the show — they're not off the show. I think Amber was talking about that bittersweet feeling of, 'I'll never be in the choir room with that exact group of people.' At least that's what she told me ... When I read that I said, 'I think people will misconstrue that.' She's excited about where her character is going. They all are. I wanted to do the right thing by all of them." He then continued: "They're all coming back. Anyone who is a regular is coming back. Everyone said yes."

On June 28, 2013, it was reported that Morris, Riley, Salling and Shum would be changing from starring status to guest starring roles for the fifth season, and on the following day that Jacob Artist, Melissa Benoist, Blake Jenner, Alex Newell and Becca Tobin, who play Jake Puckerman, Marley Rose, Ryder Lynn, Wade "Unique" Adams and Kitty Wilde, respectively, were all being promoted to the show's main cast.

On July 13, 2013, Cory Monteith was found dead in his room at the Fairmont Pacific Rim hotel in Vancouver, British Columbia. An autopsy is scheduled for July 15. His publicist said, "We are so saddened to confirm that the reports on the death of Cory Monteith are accurate. We are in shock and mourning this tragic loss."