Ryan Murphy reflects on the death of ‘Glee’ star Cory Monteith

CNN
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Ryan Murphy says he now would have handled the death of “Glee” star Cory Monteith differently.

In a conversation on the podcast “And That’s What You REALLY Missed” released this week, Murphy said he regretted doing a tribute episode of the show so soon after Monteith, who played Finn Hudson, died from a drug overdose in 2013 at the age of 31.

“I’ve thought a lot about that recently and I would not have done that [episode] now,” Murphy said. “I just would not have done it. I felt like it was way too raw and way too soon.”

The podcast is hosted by “Glee” stars Kevin McHale (who played Artie Abrams) and Jenna Ushkowitz (Tina Cohen-Chang), and they got their former boss to talk about the months leading up to Monteith’s death.

Murphy said he had been unaware the actor had a drug problem.

“I was naive. I didn’t know,” Murphy said. “I was the person who had to lead the intervention not knowing what to do or what to say. I was just desperate for him to live.”

Though he had counselor on set during filming of the tribute episode and even gave cast the option to not participate, Murphy said he understood how difficult it was for all involved.

The showrunner added that at the time, he “was in such a blur of grief” and felt “devastated” by Monteith’s tragic death.