Cory Monteith: What You Might Not Know About the Beloved (Understatement) Glee Star

An account of why the actor will be so sorely missed

By Kristin Dos Santos Jul 15, 2013 6:24 AMTags
Cory Monteith, Glee GalleryFOX

If you came to this story hoping for more details about how and why Cory Monteith is no longer with us, you are in the wrong place.

If you are a fan seeking comfort that some members of the press are grieving just as much as you, this is for you.

This is a personal account from one of the (many) reporters who covered Gleesince it began, written solely because I can't stop crying over the news, and feel the need to tell you fans that you are not alone in your devastation.

After the tragic news broke Saturday that Cory had been found in a Vancouver hotel room, various members of the press took to Twitter to reflect on what a truly sincere and sweet guy he was, calling him things like "incredibly kind," "always courteous," "humble, down to earth," "always honest" and "the absolute nicest."

We have covered celebrity deaths before. This one is different.

From the producers and cast and crew and fans on the street to, yes, even the reporters who covered the show, it seems that in Cory's time in Hollywood, no one really ever had a single bad word to say about the guy.

In case you don't know a whole lot about this town, that doesn't happen.

At every Glee press event, from before the show first aired until it became an award-winning success, Monteith was kind and respectful, carefully listening to questions, giving thoughtful and playful answers, and never taking himself too seriously.

If you asked your 18 millionth question about Finn and Rachel, he would smile and do his absolute best to give you something the fans would appreciate hearing.

If you wanted to snap a selfie with him, he wouldn't just oblige, he would tell you some fun little tricks on how to make you look the best ("Who cares about me?") and keep snapping photos until he thought the pic did you justice.

Selfless. Unaffected. And so real.

And I will never forget that during my first visit to the Glee set in season one, as we watched a performance scene in which Cory was sweating buckets and giving every ounce of everything he had, one of the producers turned to me and said, "No one works harder than Cory. No one. He is everything this show is about."

There are no words for how much he will be missed.

Rest in peace, Cory. You are loved.