Speaker 1: And That's what you Really missed with Jenna.
Speaker 2: And Kevin and iHeartRadio podcast.
Speaker 1: Welcome to and That's what You Really missed podcast. Today
Speaker 1: is a unique and sad episode, if you will. This
Speaker 1: is season five, episode three. This is the Quarterback. Now.
Speaker 1: When Kevin and I started this podcast, we knew we
Speaker 1: were not going to recap this episode from the very beginning,
Speaker 1: and that was really driven by, I think Kevin correct
Speaker 1: me if I'm wrong, the immense grief that we had
Speaker 1: to experience while shooting this episode on camera. So while
Speaker 1: we were grieving Corey behind the scenes, we were also
Speaker 1: then put in front of the camera on this episode
Speaker 1: to grieve as our characters and grief Finn and it
Speaker 1: was not a great experience for anybody.
Speaker 2: And I think what also sort of made us feel
Speaker 2: not crazy for feeling that way was when we had
Speaker 2: Ryan on this show. Initially, he talked about that exact
Speaker 2: same thing and how if he could have gone back,
Speaker 2: he wouldn't have done that episode, And like we talked
Speaker 2: about together, there was sort of no it was a
Speaker 2: lose lose of how to do this correctly. So having
Speaker 2: the control of the situation now as we do, we
Speaker 2: decided to do a different format for this episode. Yes,
Speaker 2: because we all love Corey. Fans love Corey and Finn
Speaker 2: and one of the best Experien says about doing this
Speaker 2: podcast so far has and if you've listened every week,
Speaker 2: every single person, almost every single person has a Corey story.
Speaker 1: And mentioned him as the one who they felt the
Speaker 1: most connected to or felt the most seen by, the
Speaker 1: heard by, or whatever it was. Corey is always, if
Speaker 1: you listen, mentioned as like that guy.
Speaker 2: Always and like the the way he would quietly go
Speaker 2: about making everybody feel comfortable and safe. Truly was you know,
Speaker 2: for lack of a better word, the quarterback of the
Speaker 2: show in that way. And it's been surprising and in
Speaker 2: some ways to hear some of these stories that you
Speaker 2: know that we've heard over the past two years, but
Speaker 2: also not surprising in the same sense because like, if
Speaker 2: anyone is going to be that way, of course, it
Speaker 2: was him always looking out for everybody. So we thought
Speaker 2: for this episode, will go through it a little bit,
Speaker 2: but we're not going to break down the episode because
Speaker 2: we're not watching it.
Speaker 1: That's the main pointing.
Speaker 2: If you want, and I know it for some people
Speaker 2: that bring some sort of comfort and solace that is great.
Speaker 2: I'm glad that it is there for you. For us,
Speaker 2: we want to highlight some of these stories, and we
Speaker 2: have some new stories that people sent in. Talk about
Speaker 2: our memories. We'll talk a little bit at the top
Speaker 2: of this about the actual filming of the episode. But
Speaker 2: that's how we're going to lay this out. And I
Speaker 2: hope you know you will ride with us on this
Speaker 2: and really have it be a celebration of Corey's legacy
Speaker 2: more than anything.
Speaker 1: Yes, that is right. Well, let's get past all the info.
Speaker 1: This was directed by Brad Faulchuk. Uh couldn't have done
Speaker 1: it with anybody else. And there's some songs Seasons of
Speaker 1: Love performed by all of.
Speaker 2: Us by You by Mercedes.
Speaker 1: Fire and Rain by Arnie and Sam Young by Santana,
Speaker 1: No Surrender by Puck.
Speaker 2: And make You Feel My Love by Rachel.
Speaker 1: Tell me about the empisode.
Speaker 2: Sorry, So the McKinley high family, present and past joined
Speaker 2: together and remember and celebrate the life of Finn Hudson.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so this is interesting because we were we found
Speaker 1: out that that Finn was going to also pass in
Speaker 1: the show. That wasn't a decision that came lightly. I remember,
Speaker 1: you know, the writers really kind of mulling and agonizing
Speaker 1: over what to do, how to move the story forward,
Speaker 1: and where do we go from here? And we also
Speaker 1: were given the option to either do the episode or
Speaker 1: not do the episode. I never felt and Kevin never
Speaker 1: felt like we didn't want to be there. There was
Speaker 1: just a certain group of people in this bubble who
Speaker 1: understood stood what we were going through, and we really
Speaker 1: didn't leave each other sides for a long time after
Speaker 1: this happened Corey's passing in July, and I would have
Speaker 1: felt like, I don't know, in hindsight, maybe you know,
Speaker 1: we wouldn't have done it, but there would have been
Speaker 1: something missing from the episode if somebody didn't do it right.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And it also just felt like there wasn't a
Speaker 2: lot of time to consider, like the schedule of how
Speaker 2: this happened, as Corey passed away the early middle of July, Yeah,
Speaker 2: and normally we'd start shooting around that same time, probably
Speaker 2: within a couple of days of that. They pushed it
Speaker 2: back ten days to two weeks, and then we immediately
Speaker 2: started at the very beginning of August, which is still
Speaker 2: very recent and an episode takes eight to nine days
Speaker 2: to shoot, so we did two episodes and then went
Speaker 2: straight into this episode. We had a break after this episode,
Speaker 2: but there is still not a lot of time when
Speaker 2: we get into this episode, so it was all very
Speaker 2: very fresh, and I think because we sort of just
Speaker 2: jumped back into doing the show, it didn't feel like
Speaker 2: and I don't think this is anybody's fault, but like
Speaker 2: for medn't it felt like a false choice of do
Speaker 2: we actually say no to this, or get to say
Speaker 2: no to this, or does it feel right to say
Speaker 2: no to this?
Speaker 3: Right?
Speaker 2: There was no way to, like for me at least,
Speaker 2: like check in with myself because this is like a
Speaker 2: very unprecedented situation.
Speaker 1: And there was no time to really check in with yourself.
Speaker 2: No, And we were at work, and it's like we
Speaker 2: were just saying yes and you just go and like
Speaker 2: if everyone's doing it, then let's all do it and
Speaker 2: be there together because surely if we're all together, yeah,
Speaker 2: that will be better.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: But the experience of shooting some of this, especially when
Speaker 2: we got the song list of what songs were going
Speaker 2: to be in this episode, and it.
Speaker 1: Is just b it was not great.
Speaker 2: It was really really hard.
Speaker 1: I remember, and and and that's the thing, like when
Speaker 1: we were shooting the episodes of The Beatles, there was
Speaker 1: like a solemness to back behind the scenes that we
Speaker 1: were still grieving and going through all this together, but
Speaker 1: we were shooting something joyful that gave I think our
Speaker 1: cast and crew moments of levity where we could sing
Speaker 1: happy songs and kind of find joy for those moments.
Speaker 1: And even with like Katie Gaga right after this episode,
Speaker 1: it's like there were there were just brief seconds of
Speaker 1: like a deep breath where you are not thinking it
Speaker 1: just for just one second. And during the Quarterback episode,
Speaker 1: I mean, we were joking around Off's camera on camera.
Speaker 1: You know us, we're crazy and you know we'd love
Speaker 1: to laugh and dance and joke, but like this episode
Speaker 1: is so was so different that there was like you
Speaker 1: could hear a pin drop in between takes, You could
Speaker 1: hear a pin drop when you showed up to set.
Speaker 1: It was so gravely different as it as you would assume,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, like obviously, but it was
Speaker 1: not our show. We were not shooting our show during
Speaker 1: this time. That's what it didn't feel.
Speaker 2: Like that, and I don't think any of us realized
Speaker 2: that's what was going to happen in the sense that
Speaker 2: as soon as the first take rolled around, I felt like, oh,
Speaker 2: this is Kevin on camera. It was the first time
Speaker 2: I had you know, we joke about how, oh they
Speaker 2: started writing for our characters, blah blah blah blah blah.
Speaker 2: This is very very different. It felt very much like
Speaker 2: this is me sitting in the room where I spend
Speaker 2: so much time with Corey, and the camera's on my
Speaker 2: face and I feel very much like I am being
Speaker 2: exposed in a way, or like the camera is capturing.
Speaker 2: And although they set it up in a way where
Speaker 2: like it's Brad doing it, it's our family and this
Speaker 2: crew doing it. So it was the safest space possible,
Speaker 2: but there was no way. I was just hyper aware,
Speaker 2: and I think we all became hyper aware of like, oh,
Speaker 2: millions of people are going to see this in a
Speaker 2: different way than shooting a Beatles episode or any other
Speaker 2: episode where it felt like an intrusion. Yes, totally into
Speaker 2: like a really private experience, and we were having to
Speaker 2: figure out how to deal with that anyways. You know, personally,
Speaker 2: this was the first time I had lost somebody close
Speaker 2: to me, and then he's a very famous public figure
Speaker 2: at that time. Yes, and there was I don't know
Speaker 2: exactly when we went on the Teen Choice Awards. I
Speaker 2: know it sounds so silly.
Speaker 1: But a couple of months it was it was like
Speaker 1: it after this, yeah, yeah, because Lee asked us to
Speaker 1: show up for her.
Speaker 2: Yes, And we hadn't been doing any public appearances obviously,
Speaker 2: and so these things that would be public facing were
Speaker 2: very hard to navigate because it's hard enough losing somebody.
Speaker 2: Then it's additional things of having it be talked about
Speaker 2: everywhere you went. You go into a grocery store, convenience store,
Speaker 2: it's on the cover of all the magazines. And so
Speaker 2: this was like the first public facing thing we were
Speaker 2: doing it, yes, and putting it out into the world. Yeah,
Speaker 2: And it was just very hard to conceptualize what that
Speaker 2: was going to be and feel like until physically in
Speaker 2: the chair the camera in your face.
Speaker 1: Yes for me, that's right now, that's totally right. Total.
Speaker 2: I mean, when we were shooting some of these numbers,
Speaker 2: I don't think there was a scene or specifically a
Speaker 2: musical number where somebody didn't run out of the room.
Speaker 1: Crying after they called caught. Yes, somebody would run out
Speaker 1: crying and like need a second to like gather themselves,
Speaker 1: like not just tears, but like full you know, you
Speaker 1: get it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I did. What broke me was Amber singing.
Speaker 2: And here's the other thing, Like I think all these
Speaker 2: songs mean different things to all of us. So for
Speaker 2: me it was all stand by you like broke me right,
Speaker 2: and for other people it was other songs right, And
Speaker 2: like I had to run. I walked out of the
Speaker 2: choir room and like sat out on the dock, and
Speaker 2: I think Brad came and talked to me. Yeah, And
Speaker 2: Brad is also just like he's the person you do want.
Speaker 1: There, yes, sounding bored, the.
Speaker 2: Gentle under completely understands like we're all there to do
Speaker 2: this job, which feels silly under the circumstances. And in
Speaker 2: that moment, I was just like I'm not giving I'm
Speaker 2: not giving you anything else. Yeah, because I'm going to
Speaker 2: like I'm not for me to get through this episode.
Speaker 2: I'm not going to be able to do this every
Speaker 2: take and it's not like I'm performing, it's just real
Speaker 2: and I can't allow myself. If you want me to
Speaker 2: like get through this episode, I'll show up. But yeah,
Speaker 2: I don't think I can allow myself to emotionally invest
Speaker 2: like I have to sort of associate a little bit.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, we all started to do that. I
Speaker 1: think I also remember doing maybe one or two takes
Speaker 1: of each scene and song.
Speaker 2: Yes, it was a.
Speaker 1: Very short process. We shot this episode very quickly. It
Speaker 1: felt like a long time, but we everything was so
Speaker 1: honest that there was no other options, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean. You weren't giving people options. The director like
Speaker 1: brad option. It was just shoot it, get it over with,
Speaker 1: let's move on.
Speaker 2: And there was sort of this craig if I'm wrong,
Speaker 2: but there was this consensus. It felt like if it
Speaker 2: felt like they wanted to go again, we were like, no, you.
Speaker 1: Got yeah, yeah, we're good. Yeah.
Speaker 2: It was totally Obviously the set as a whole was protective,
Speaker 2: but then with each other we were even more. It
Speaker 2: was an extra layer of protection. Totally no, no, no,
Speaker 2: she killed this. We need to move on.
Speaker 1: Yes, exactly, you got it.
Speaker 2: What you got is what you got, like I don't, Yeah,
Speaker 2: just use it. I also remember at some point I
Speaker 2: think I got a little like angry with the situation.
Speaker 2: I think so, and I remember the camera turning to me, yeah,
Speaker 2: and you being like because they knew I was having
Speaker 2: a hard time at one of the scenes and then
Speaker 2: the camera turned to me, and I looked into the
Speaker 2: camera and just go, no.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, uh yeah, you had done you had it,
Speaker 1: you had had it.
Speaker 2: I know you're all doing your job, but I'm not
Speaker 2: doing this.
Speaker 1: And blessed that that crew and our are like camerat
Speaker 1: A and B, like Dwayne and Andrew Mitchell who were
Speaker 1: also graving the loss of their friend. And you know,
Speaker 1: coworker crew was just as devastated as we were, as
Speaker 1: they felt the most hard and felt seen by Corey.
Speaker 1: But just to have to do that and understand that
Speaker 1: they have a job to do as well, right, Like,
Speaker 1: it was very hard because sometimes he would push in
Speaker 1: on you just weeping, just fully weeping. I remember, like
Speaker 1: there's a camera. I mean, I like put my head
Speaker 1: and I was like, I have nowhere to hide right now,
Speaker 1: I have nowhere to hide, And remembering like, don't get
Speaker 1: angry at the people who are doing their jobs.
Speaker 2: Correct.
Speaker 1: I felt bad about that too, because everybody was just
Speaker 1: doing their best.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, I mean between takes, say would have tears
Speaker 2: in their eyes.
Speaker 1: No, it's just it was really awful.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I think, you know, to like Ryan's point,
Speaker 2: about if he could do it all over again, he
Speaker 2: would do it differently. It is one of those things
Speaker 2: where you don't know until you start doing it. Because
Speaker 2: I understand we all talked about it, like what would
Speaker 2: an ideal episode in this situation look like to us?
Speaker 2: And nobody came up with a clear well answer that
Speaker 2: was any different and it was just like, Okay, yeah,
Speaker 2: here will see how this goes. And it wasn't not good.
Speaker 2: I mean, like I really dreaded recording Fire and RAINA.
Speaker 1: Was that really hard or did you just kind of
Speaker 1: like also dissociate?
Speaker 2: I think what's crazy is I mean the lyrics of
Speaker 2: a lot of these songs are so fitting. Yeah, and
Speaker 2: I think I did have to like associate, like let
Speaker 2: me just technically figure out how to do this, and
Speaker 2: and it's like a beautiful song, like and everyone is
Speaker 2: really like doing a beautiful job on all of these
Speaker 2: songs for usual. Yeah, but yeah, it was less about
Speaker 2: I'm not going to like cry on the track, you know,
Speaker 2: like let me just totally let me just feel good
Speaker 2: about what I'm doing professionally, but like get.
Speaker 1: Through it, get through it exactly.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I don't remember a lot outside of like those
Speaker 2: things I just shared it was sort.
Speaker 1: Of like a big battler. Yeah, this season feels like
Speaker 1: a big battler. You said stand By You was one
Speaker 1: of your favorite Quory numbers or that got really got
Speaker 1: you when Amber sang it. What songs remind you the
Speaker 1: most or come to mind when you think about Corey
Speaker 1: from that he's sang on the show has been?
Speaker 2: I mean I think sort of the classics like Jesse's
Speaker 2: Girl I still have a hard time listening to. Like
Speaker 2: when I hear that song out in public, I'll stand
Speaker 2: by You is definitely like I can't listen to that song.
Speaker 1: Oh wow, Okay, that's like a never never do don't
Speaker 1: play it?
Speaker 2: Yeah no, no, what about you.
Speaker 1: Losing My Religion? Yeah, that's the one. I can now
Speaker 1: listen to it or if I hear it on you know,
Speaker 1: the original like in a store, I can bear it.
Speaker 1: But Corey's version really gets me. Yeah, Cory's version is
Speaker 1: still hard to listen to. And and of course Jesse's
Speaker 1: Girl mostly the tour, yes exactly. Yeah, yeah, those are
Speaker 1: the cheer that really stick out to me.
Speaker 2: Both of those songs, This is my Religion and Jesse's Girls,
Speaker 2: like he cared so much about what he was doing
Speaker 2: on those songs.
Speaker 1: He loved it. When he like loved you could hear
Speaker 1: the love of the music and of his role on
Speaker 1: his job and like everything, he just felt like there
Speaker 1: was passion behind all of his stuff. And even on set,
Speaker 1: like there were times that Corey would have his moments
Speaker 1: which we all had where you're like, my character wouldn't
Speaker 1: do that, or does this doesn't fully make sense to me?
Speaker 1: Why would I be here? Why would I walk there?
Speaker 1: Or whatever? It was like when Corey did it, it
Speaker 1: was always like very intentional and it was also very earned,
Speaker 1: and it's because he cared. He wasn't just trying to
Speaker 1: be difficult, which he didn't come across that way ever,
Speaker 1: But like you know, there's some actors out there that
Speaker 1: you've heard stories that just they want to be difficult
Speaker 1: and they why would I stand here? And can cry
Speaker 1: just stand here instead? And why would I say this line?
Speaker 2: My character wouldn't do it?
Speaker 1: Like Corey really knew Finn and he really cared so deeply,
Speaker 1: and so when when those moments came up, it was
Speaker 1: like people listened, you know what I mean, Like people listened,
Speaker 1: and he because he cared and the way he.
Speaker 2: Would always approach things and I think you hear that
Speaker 2: in the stories that we've heard on this podcast. Everything
Speaker 2: was always from a place of respect in general and
Speaker 2: genuine care. So nothing would ever come out of his
Speaker 2: mouth that you'd be like, he's being advts Like no,
Speaker 2: totally ever, totally ever be something associated with it, also.
Speaker 1: Carrying a show in his back like why wouldn't you
Speaker 1: make decisions and intentional ask questions and challenge people? And
Speaker 1: you know what I mean like that, I.
Speaker 2: Think that's the beautiful leader. Like juxtaposition from Finn to Corey. Yeah,
Speaker 2: well Finn was sort of this puppy dog, I'm just
Speaker 2: sort of bumbling through life trying to do the right thing,
Speaker 2: where Corey could absolutely have those moments. Yeah, but as
Speaker 2: a person was so much more like focused and serious
Speaker 2: and intentional when it came to the work or caring
Speaker 2: about your friends or making sure everybody's taken care of.
Speaker 2: That was his focus all the time.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And he like stayed out of the drama and
Speaker 1: he like laughed at it and just like he was
Speaker 1: such a good leader. He was such a good leader. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and without really having to like say anything about it,
Speaker 1: do you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we all just sort of accepted that he was
Speaker 2: the leader, like yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, he was.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I think some of one of the best things that's
Speaker 1: come from this podcast, like you said earlier, was like
Speaker 1: every time we have a guest on, they have to
Speaker 1: mention Corey, And I think that was part of really
Speaker 1: why when we had decided we weren't going to recap
Speaker 1: the quarterback, it felt like a no brainer to honor
Speaker 1: him in some way because like everybody had something nice
Speaker 1: to say, or something new we didn't know, or a
Speaker 1: lot of that, like Samuel Larson saying that he took
Speaker 1: him out to lunch and like welcomed him in just
Speaker 1: makes I could burst into tears at this very moment
Speaker 1: because like it's so generous and kind and speaks to
Speaker 1: Corey and his character, his integrity, not his character, fim
Speaker 1: of like who he was and like caring for everybody,
Speaker 1: and nobody had to know about it except for Samuel
Speaker 1: to feel like he had an ally on that set.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And it's to think about the people, like the
Speaker 2: stories that we don't know yet or haven't heard the
Speaker 2: amount of times, because it's a pattern that wasn't a
Speaker 2: one off, like Max Rowler was talking about how welcoming
Speaker 2: Corey was, like went above and beyond for him on set,
Speaker 2: and like, when you're coming into this gigan, having somebody
Speaker 2: be the anchor that you can go to and having
Speaker 2: it be someone who was the star of the show
Speaker 2: like him, totally, it is really really valuable.
Speaker 1: Totally. We revisited some of our old episodes and I
Speaker 1: think there were just some highlights that we jotted down
Speaker 1: because you know, there were just such notable, important people
Speaker 1: to the show that had such notable moments and memories
Speaker 1: about Corey that I thought we should mention, like Ryan
Speaker 1: saying that Corey felt like his own child, yeah, and
Speaker 1: how hard of a time he had when he was
Speaker 1: going through all of that, you know, his his stuff,
Speaker 1: and then when he passed away.
Speaker 2: I also really enjoyed like when Robert Oric, the casting director,
Speaker 2: was talking about how Finn and Mercedes were so hard
Speaker 2: to cast, but seeing Corey's audition tape, even without him
Speaker 2: singing yeah, was so magical, Like there was something about
Speaker 2: him yeah yeah, and there was there was like all
Speaker 2: the parts that you love about watching Finn are very
Speaker 2: much there there from the very beginning. Yes, like that
Speaker 2: magic he had with that role was totally unbelievable.
Speaker 1: And then you have like you know, when we had
Speaker 1: Mark malkoln On, Michael Assiello, you know, our publicist from Fox,
Speaker 1: Tracy Rafferty, all of them saying how kind he was
Speaker 1: at every interaction, which was a lot of interactions, and
Speaker 1: like taking the time on set when they would come
Speaker 1: to set and sit there for hours and be there
Speaker 1: for a special shooting day or a tribute episode, and
Speaker 1: him taking the time from which which is hard, like
Speaker 1: there are some people who just you know, cannot kind
Speaker 1: of socialize while they're on set or are too tired
Speaker 1: or whatever. But always Corey always took hours and just
Speaker 1: talked to them and made them feel welcome, un said,
Speaker 1: and you know like became their friend. And then Tracy too,
Speaker 1: like she spent so much time with us and so
Speaker 1: much time with Corey, and she had such fond memories
Speaker 1: of like deal, you know, experiencing his joy and his
Speaker 1: person and then also having to deal with all the
Speaker 1: stuff that came from when when the fallout happened.
Speaker 2: You know, I mean to that too. I think you
Speaker 2: know Caylin Gorman, who was the behind the scenes producer,
Speaker 2: she said something very similar to like when we were
Speaker 2: all tired and had long days, and she would be
Speaker 2: there trying to pull us away to do behind the
Speaker 2: scenes stuff, like she could always count on Corey to
Speaker 2: do what she needed to do, like his battery for
Speaker 2: being sociable or professional. Those of us that would run
Speaker 2: out be tapped out. He never tapped out. Yeah, they
Speaker 2: would always do it. He was always there.
Speaker 1: And then also I would like, like I said about
Speaker 1: Samuel Larson being taken out to lunch but by Corey.
Speaker 1: I also didn't know that Angie Warner on tour they
Speaker 1: would have special coffee dates.
Speaker 2: This was my favorite story.
Speaker 1: And like get him coffee because he would spend all
Speaker 1: the time with the fans and see all the fans,
Speaker 1: you know, in the lobby of the hotel, or like
Speaker 1: at the theater or at the venue, and like he
Speaker 1: she would bring him coffee. And then it was a
Speaker 1: tradition that they kept going after the tour was over
Speaker 1: back in la which I love too. I thought that
Speaker 1: was so special. I had no idea they had that relationship,
Speaker 1: not that we needed to, but again, like everybody felt
Speaker 1: so connected to him.
Speaker 2: He had more hours in the day than we did.
Speaker 1: He made them like he made them.
Speaker 2: Like what was he had that clock of like his
Speaker 2: his day was twenty six hours long.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I don't know, yeah where those extra
Speaker 1: two hours come from and that energy comes from and
Speaker 1: to like care for others, you know.
Speaker 2: And you always felt like it was that type of
Speaker 2: person too, that never made you feel like he was
Speaker 2: doing you a favor or wasting his time. No, you
Speaker 2: were always the only person in the room. You were
Speaker 2: the most important person in that moment if you're having
Speaker 2: that conversation or having that coffee, whatever it may be. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and would never make you feel bad about taking his
Speaker 2: time for anything.
Speaker 1: Someone like The most like vivid memories of Corey that
Speaker 1: I have are like when we were waiting for him
Speaker 1: in the Pilot because he got stuck without a visa
Speaker 1: and he was cast and we knew we knew who
Speaker 1: Finn was, but we didn't get to meet him for
Speaker 1: like weeks before he came in like and we started shooting. Essentially,
Speaker 1: he made it. And we had been rehearsing for like,
Speaker 1: you know, been together doing music and costumes and dance
Speaker 1: and all of these things with Zach and you know,
Speaker 1: the five of us, and we were just waiting for
Speaker 1: like our our like hero to come. Yeah, and we
Speaker 1: were like so excited when he came. And we were
Speaker 1: on set doing something at the cabrio where we shot
Speaker 1: like the pilot before they built all of our sets,
Speaker 1: and there was like cake one of the first days,
Speaker 1: and we sat out in the courtyard at the picnic
Speaker 1: tables and we were like eating cake and we were
Speaker 1: all taking pictures of each other. I had like all
Speaker 1: these pictures of all of us like hanging out. He's
Speaker 1: in that blue striped sweater that he's in in the
Speaker 1: beginning of the show. And then when we had rap
Speaker 1: parties were always a weird thing and they never you know,
Speaker 1: some years they were really good. In some years, like
Speaker 1: we were doing tour and there was a lot going on,
Speaker 1: and so they kind of like fell by the wayside,
Speaker 1: especially as we got later into the seasons. And one
Speaker 1: year was like they had a crew wrap party and
Speaker 1: a cast rap party, but not one together. And Corey
Speaker 1: was like very upset about that, and so he decided
Speaker 1: to throw a rager rap party at his house for
Speaker 1: everybody to join together because we all wanted to be together.
Speaker 1: And he's he didn't really come down. He wasn't drinking
Speaker 1: at the time. Again like he he came up. He
Speaker 1: was up on the railing of his house looking down,
Speaker 1: and I remember like all of us looking at being
Speaker 1: like he's Gatsby.
Speaker 2: He doesn't.
Speaker 1: He like entertains and like revels in the joy of
Speaker 1: other people. And I remember going up and like talking
Speaker 1: to him for a while. We hung out on the
Speaker 1: banister with him, like on the you know, on the balcony,
Speaker 1: but he really didn't come down, but he was just
Speaker 1: so happy that everybody was there having fun. And then
Speaker 1: the photoshoot was the last time I ever saw him.
Speaker 1: Was this photo shoot for season five with all the
Speaker 1: Maybies and us and yes, and I mean we had
Speaker 1: no idea, like we had, we had no clue, but
Speaker 1: he was. He was there, and I remember saying to
Speaker 1: him something about his watch, because he had a sub
Speaker 1: Mariner and relex that I loved like a lot, and
Speaker 1: he's had if he had for a long time. I
Speaker 1: don't know if it was a family thing or if
Speaker 1: he had had it himself. But I was thinking about
Speaker 1: buying myself one. And we had joked about Rolexes obviously
Speaker 1: a lot because Glee, you know, we got Rolexes for
Speaker 1: as a gift on tour, and like some Brad had
Speaker 1: one that he wore all the time, and so they
Speaker 1: were just kind of like circulating around us, and I
Speaker 1: was like, I think I'm gonna buy one for myself.
Speaker 1: He was like, as you should, Jenna, as you should.
Speaker 1: And we always my husband and I always say as
Speaker 1: you should, know, and I've always taken that with me
Speaker 1: because he'll always say like as you should, like Corey said,
Speaker 1: because it's like take the trip, do the thing, buy
Speaker 1: the watch, go, you know, like skip work, go do
Speaker 1: your thing. It was just something that like I took
Speaker 1: that I didn't even intentionally take. I just took it
Speaker 1: with me. Yeah, So that was like those are a
Speaker 1: couple of my favorite, like very vivid memories of Corey.
Speaker 2: I remember that same photo shoot. We hadn't seen him
Speaker 2: since he went to rehab, right, and so I just
Speaker 2: remember like hugging him and being like I'm so proud
Speaker 2: of you and he's like, oh, thanks, b and like
Speaker 2: grabbed me and like squeezed me, and I was like, okay,
Speaker 2: here we are, like we're back to right normal. Obviously
Speaker 2: I didn't know what was going on, but like, right,
Speaker 2: you would never know. Yeah, there were times like he
Speaker 2: we were in New York and he took me out.
Speaker 2: It was probably the only time like we hung out
Speaker 2: one on one's New York Yeah, and we went to
Speaker 2: like the Soho House and we just sat out there
Speaker 2: and it felt so funny because I also felt like
Speaker 2: he was like the big brother, like the jock, like
Speaker 2: the he's the cool guy, and I'm like, I'm like
Speaker 2: the little weirdo, quirky day kid. And obviously that dynamic
Speaker 2: would there was never any separation between any of us
Speaker 2: like that, but it felt really funny for us to
Speaker 2: just be there by ourselves because I remember being like,
Speaker 2: what are we going to talk about on this one?
Speaker 2: I had known him for a couple of years, but
Speaker 2: it was like, I don't know what, We've never had
Speaker 2: a one on one And obviously it was great and
Speaker 2: we had like just such a nice time hanging out.
Speaker 2: I think it was I think it was during tour,
Speaker 2: the second tour, and it was nice to just like
Speaker 2: have a moment and like catch up and like he
Speaker 2: was checking in. You know now, in hindsight, like talking
Speaker 2: to all these people, it's like that his way to
Speaker 2: sort of like check in, yeah, or vice versa be
Speaker 2: able to like check in with me about himself totally,
Speaker 2: which felt nice as well and special and like it's
Speaker 2: nice for not taking these relationships for granted. Yeah, and yeah,
Speaker 2: I think when we were around each other that often
Speaker 2: and then you're on tour and you're shooting to be
Speaker 2: able to make special one on one time for people,
Speaker 2: clearly was something he was really good at and really
Speaker 2: enjoyed and meant a lot to all of us.
Speaker 1: Yes, definitely. So we wanted to share a couple of
Speaker 1: our favorite stories told on this podcast because I think
Speaker 1: they're just like really special moments. So first is from
Speaker 1: Vanessa and GI's reflecting on one of her favorite Glee memories.
Speaker 1: So let's listen.
Speaker 4: I have I have a really good memory of Corey
Speaker 4: and I and it was like we were in the
Speaker 4: in the holding room and there were set chairs everywhere
Speaker 4: and almost everyone was napping in a different in a
Speaker 4: different position. There were people lying on the floor. There
Speaker 4: are people who had chairs set up in a row
Speaker 4: of three and were sleeping on that, and it was
Speaker 4: everyone was sleeping and Corey was sitting. Corey was the
Speaker 4: only one awake, and I was sitting next to him,
Speaker 4: and like I said, you know, we had been friends
Speaker 4: from before, but it was very trippy. He was looking
Speaker 4: at everyone with this kind of loving papa vibe. And
Speaker 4: I remember we had this talk about his experience that's
Speaker 4: that that you know to that point on Glee, and
Speaker 4: he was talking about each of you as you slept
Speaker 4: with so much love, and and it was it just
Speaker 4: was a cosmic conversation I don't know how else to
Speaker 4: describe it, where I really just saw his hold of
Speaker 4: everyone and silently. You know, he wasn't he wasn't a
Speaker 4: man of many words, but that conversation really stands out
Speaker 4: to me.
Speaker 5: Wow.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the consistency. Also, if you haven't listened to that
Speaker 2: episode with Vanessa, she talks just beautifully about Corey at
Speaker 2: great length throughout that episode. So you should go back
Speaker 2: and listen to that because her memory is incredible, and yeah,
Speaker 2: exactly the way she so eloquently speaks about him is
Speaker 2: just it was really beautiful.
Speaker 1: And then I also mentioned a couple of times about
Speaker 1: that Samuel Larson a story that like just took me
Speaker 1: out of my body.
Speaker 2: It's beautiful.
Speaker 1: So this is Samuel Larson, who joined the show in
Speaker 1: season three.
Speaker 5: For every new guy that came in. Corey was just
Speaker 5: the best. Corey would just completely take you under his wing.
Speaker 5: I remember just always coming up to me. He's like,
Speaker 5: what's up, TV star, how you doing? Take me out
Speaker 5: to lunch, and just really it was really easy to
Speaker 5: feel welcome with him, specifically because I could tell he
Speaker 5: was paying extra attention to me to make sure I
Speaker 5: felt welcomed and that was huge for me. And I
Speaker 5: saw him do it with others as well, Like I
Speaker 5: saw him do it when when Blake joined as well,
Speaker 5: and I was like, I know what he's doing, Like
Speaker 5: that's his thing, and I think that's great and it's
Speaker 5: and it brought up the best of me. Like I
Speaker 5: see certain scenes.
Speaker 2: And I'm like, we filmed this like right.
Speaker 5: After me and Corey just had lunch, and I think
Speaker 5: that's why I'm doing better because I was more comfortable
Speaker 5: having just hung out with him.
Speaker 2: So the magic there too is to like, you don't
Speaker 2: know the changes you know subconsciously, Like he mentions here,
Speaker 2: like after having lunch with Corey and then doing a
Speaker 2: scene of all these little interactions right that he had
Speaker 2: with cast and crew over the years, how far that
Speaker 2: goes to make everybody's experience and therefore the product that
Speaker 2: you're producing better because people are genuinely happy to be there.
Speaker 2: You have this personal connection to everyone, and it wasn't fake.
Speaker 2: It wasn't because he was trying to do something. He
Speaker 2: just genuinely cared and I think we all benefited from
Speaker 2: it on so many different.
Speaker 1: Levels, yeah, creatively and personally. And we have some other
Speaker 1: really great voice notes that we had asked some people
Speaker 1: who I think we're very deeply touched by Corey and
Speaker 1: have spoken so in depth about him in the past,
Speaker 1: and also who have worked very closely with him. So
Speaker 1: we have Telei Kusakas who has been on the podcast,
Speaker 1: who's a dear, dear friend of ours who worked very
Speaker 1: closely with Corey. He was on set while Corey was
Speaker 1: still around with us as APA and was our first
Speaker 1: team whisperer. And then we have Vanessa Lunji's again who
Speaker 1: graciously shared another her you know, voice note of some
Speaker 1: of her memories of Corey h And then we asked
Speaker 1: romy Rosemont because she played Carol fnn's mom of course
Speaker 1: on the show. Their scenes were so dynamic and so
Speaker 1: powerful and impactful. Every time they came on screen together.
Speaker 1: It's like you couldn't not cry, and I just felt
Speaker 1: like who better to kind of reflect on him in
Speaker 1: that way watching him work and then knowing him personally.
Speaker 1: So here's Kelly, Vanessa and Roby.
Speaker 6: There isn't really one memory that springs to mind, but
Speaker 6: more of like an amalgamation of memories and really just
Speaker 6: like a feeling of being with Corey, which was he
Speaker 6: was always so inviting, so accepting, so inclusive of everyone,
Speaker 6: no matter who they were, what they were doing, where
Speaker 6: they came from.
Speaker 2: He had like an open door policy at his house.
Speaker 2: He was always.
Speaker 6: Inviting us over for pool days and parties, and there
Speaker 6: was just a sense about him. I would always catch
Speaker 6: him in these moments just sort of looking out at
Speaker 6: everyone having fun, and he just had this sense of
Speaker 6: pride and comfort in having everyone around and especially I
Speaker 6: think hosting everyone. I think a lot about how he
Speaker 6: was with his fans, especially on the Glee tour. He
Speaker 6: always took the extra time to you know, go out
Speaker 6: the stage door, talk to fans, sign autographs, take pictures.
Speaker 6: You know, I think we all probably collectively waited for
Speaker 6: him for hours. You know, he was usually the last
Speaker 6: person in the van, but you know, he never took
Speaker 6: any moment. For granted, he was so appreciative of where
Speaker 6: he was at and always acknowledging the people that, you know,
Speaker 6: the people that were his fans and the people that
Speaker 6: watched the show. And we also were both from Vancouver,
Speaker 6: so we shared a sort of you know, hometown bond
Speaker 6: in that way, we shared some mutual friends, and so
Speaker 6: it kind of just Corey always felt like an old friend,
Speaker 6: even if you just met him. I think after all
Speaker 6: these years, that's always what sticks with me first and foremost,
Speaker 6: Love you, Corey, Miss you always.
Speaker 7: I remember Corey being a larger than life forced to
Speaker 7: be around. I can remember his smile and his almost
Speaker 7: like beamed sunshine when I got to my first day
Speaker 7: on the set of Glee, and different days after that,
Speaker 7: just this warmth and brightness that radiated off of him,
Speaker 7: and I felt like he had big Papa energy watching
Speaker 7: over the cast and the crew. He was very observant
Speaker 7: and very playful, but also grounded and mature. He just
Speaker 7: loved everyone so much and cared for everyone, and I
Speaker 7: just felt him watching over everyone in a very protective
Speaker 7: and loving way. Yeah. It was a real special special
Speaker 7: being for sure. Miss him all the time.
Speaker 3: The first time I met Corey was on the I
Speaker 3: think second episode of the show. We'd never met on
Speaker 3: the pilot, and the scene was teaching him to drive
Speaker 3: and he hits the mailman and I go berserk.
Speaker 1: But we never met.
Speaker 3: He didn't know my style, he didn't know how nutty
Speaker 3: cuckoo I can be. And when Ryan was kind of
Speaker 3: explaining what we were gonna do, he just kind of
Speaker 3: looked at me and went go for it.
Speaker 2: And I said how big. He goes go for it.
Speaker 3: And so we're kind of doing this the very beginning
Speaker 3: of the scene, just you know, idle chit chat, and
Speaker 3: then he hits the mailman, goes over the car and
Speaker 3: I went ape shit. I go like crazy, oh my god,
Speaker 3: oh my god, you killed him. The oh my god,
Speaker 3: You're gonna go to jail, you know, all the things
Speaker 3: that I said, and the look on his face. He
Speaker 3: jumped so high and he was like Jesus.
Speaker 1: This lady is nuts.
Speaker 3: And when Ryan yelled cut, I just looked him. I
Speaker 3: was like, ye okay, he goes yeah, and then we
Speaker 3: burst out into laughter.
Speaker 2: We just burst out laughing.
Speaker 3: And it was what an incredible introduction to playing mother
Speaker 3: and son and having this this beginning be like really
Speaker 3: really just guttural laughter.
Speaker 2: Oh, just adored him.
Speaker 3: I was so lucky because I got to do so
Speaker 3: many emotional scenes with Corey and Corey as my scene partner.
Speaker 6: And.
Speaker 2: It was such.
Speaker 3: I felt such a beautiful bond with him that all
Speaker 3: I had to do to be in that situation was
Speaker 3: to look in that boy's beautiful brown eyes filled with
Speaker 3: compassion and love and kindness, and it was like we
Speaker 3: were absolutely mother and son, and I got everything I
Speaker 3: wanted just by in his eyes. And what's extraordinary is
Speaker 3: he always thought that emotional stuff wasn't his forte.
Speaker 1: He didn't like it. He's like, I can't cry, I
Speaker 1: can't do this.
Speaker 3: I said, yes you can, Yes you can. And I
Speaker 3: think some of his best stuff is kind of the
Speaker 3: quieter emotional stuff. He was a beautiful human, he really was.
Speaker 3: I feel so lucky that the majority of my scenes
Speaker 3: on Glee were just with Corey. It wasn't until later
Speaker 3: that I actually got to be with all of you guys,
Speaker 3: which was also amazing because I adored.
Speaker 2: The entire cast.
Speaker 3: But one of my favorite stories was during the wedding
Speaker 3: of Burton Carroll and we were out at that church
Speaker 3: I think it was a church, and Corey was so
Speaker 3: away of either paparazzi or fans, and that he did
Speaker 3: not want anyone to see me, or he didn't want
Speaker 3: it to be revealed who was getting married. So anywhere
Speaker 3: I walked, whether it was to lunch or to set
Speaker 3: or wherever, he would take his coat off and either
Speaker 3: just like wrap me in it his jacket or he
Speaker 3: would open it real wide and I would crouch down.
Speaker 3: I didn't have to crouch down that much because he
Speaker 3: was six or three and kind of walk alongside him.
Speaker 3: He's like, I don't want anybody to know. I don't
Speaker 3: want anybody to know. It's going to be such a
Speaker 3: good episode. And that excitement was always infectious. And when
Speaker 3: we were standing up at the altar to be married,
Speaker 3: and I turned and I looked at him, I was
Speaker 3: kind of overcome with how fortunate I was to play
Speaker 3: his mom. That even though he was older than I
Speaker 3: think all of you guys, he.
Speaker 2: Was the hell of about younger than I am.
Speaker 3: And the sweetness and the simplicity and the kindness in
Speaker 3: his eyes with something I will never forget.
Speaker 2: You're just so sweet.
Speaker 3: God, I adore that boy.
Speaker 1: Well, thank you so much again to Romey Vanessa and
Speaker 1: tell you for sharing some of your favorite Corey stories
Speaker 1: with us. It's really we're so grateful.
Speaker 2: And thank you all for sticking with us through an
Speaker 2: unusual recap episode. We just wanted to make sure that
Speaker 2: we got the chance to honor Corey when we first
Speaker 2: started talking about this episode, we also wanted to give
Speaker 2: you guys, the fans, a platform to share your own
Speaker 2: memories about Corey because we know how much he meant
Speaker 2: to you as well.
Speaker 1: So yeah, we've received literally in outpouring of messages like
Speaker 1: all over the world, so thank you so much for
Speaker 1: taking the time to submit those. So we're actually just
Speaker 1: going to make that a separate bonus episode, so check
Speaker 1: back for that soon.
Speaker 2: And just you know, in honor of Corey, I think
Speaker 2: a message that we've clearly seen through all these people's
Speaker 2: stories is that a little time where someone can go
Speaker 2: a long way and mean a lot for them for
Speaker 2: the rest of their lives. So let that be a
Speaker 2: lesson to all of us to make room and space
Speaker 2: for everyone.
Speaker 1: Yes, I love you, Corey, Love you Corey.
Speaker 2: Thanks for listening and follow us on Instagram at and
Speaker 2: that's what you really miss pod, make sure to write
Speaker 2: us a review and leave us five stars. See you
Speaker 2: next time.