Lea Michele Breaks Silence on Cory Monteith's Death, Talks Returning to 'Glee' Season 5, and Filming Tribute Episode 'The Quarterback'
Lea Michele is finally opening up about the tragic and untimely death of her boyfriend Cory Monteith.
In a new interview with TV Week Australia, the Glee actress reveals her pain -- and how she's trying to move forward.
"I feel like, for me personally, I've lost two people: Cory and Finn," Michele told the magazine, referring to Monteith's Glee character.
A tribute to the actor and Finn is set to air on FOX on Thursday. Michele says the cast filmed the tribute "because it was something we all needed to do together."
"We had a beautiful memorial for Cory in the auditorium and some of the cast members sang and people spoke about him," recalled Michele. "It only felt right that we would do the same thing for Finn, so I felt it was very therapeutic."
Michele goes on to reveal one part of the tribute that hit close to home, when her character Rachel receives a plaque about Finn from the glee club — similar to a plaque Monteith had brought home from the set in real life.
“He said, ‘This summer we are going to take it all over everywhere we go and take pictures of us with this plaque!’ and that's what we did," she said. "Then I got the script and thought it was so unbelievable that they chose to do that in the episode.... So, for me, there are a lot of little things that are so special; everything means a lot to me."
In July, Monteith died of “a mixed drug toxicity, involving heroin and alcohol,” according to the British Columbia Coroners Service. Michele wants fans to remember her on-and-off-screen beau for much more than the way he died.
“I really woke up every single day feeling like I was being in some sort of spell or something, that I was lucky enough to have him in my life. There was no greater man than Cory, so for the time we spent together I consider myself very lucky,” Michele added.
