Credit: Fox
2014 has been a bit of a strange year for the cast of Glee. We all knew that the show would be coming to an end after six seasons, and as the year dawned we were still watching season 5, which ended happily for most. In fact, many fans would prefer to leave it there, myself included, but that is maybe for another post.
Amid dwindling ratings, Glee then had its final season cut short, down to just thirteen episodes, which now means that filming is not too far of finishing completely and season 6 will air from January 9th, 2015. Naya Rivera and Heather Morris have already finished with their roles, with Naya posting this rather poignant picture the other day, and Chord Overstreet has said he only has two more episodes left to film.
Photo: nayarivera/instagram
Little is known of cast plans for after the show finishes, though both Matt Morrison and Chris Colfer will be kept busy with various commitments, and certainly 2014 has been a busy year for both of them too. Besides filming, let’s take a look back at what some of our cast favourites were up to for the past 12 months.
Credit: Billboard
Lea Michele: 2014 saw the release of Lea’s album, Louder, and her first book, Brunette Ambition. The album hit number 4 on the Billboard charts while her book placed at number 3 on the NY Times Bestseller list. She has since announced she is working on a second book, though nothing has yet been announced in regard to a follow up album. Still, it will be hard to imagine Michele following a future career that doesn’t involve music in some way.
Lea also filmed a short role in Sons of Anarchy, as well as performing alongside Darren Criss at the 2014 Taste For A Cure fundraiser. In October, Lea Michele teamed up with Evian in a campaign encouraging women to perform their own breast exams.
Credit: People
Matthew Morrison: A fairly quiet year for Morrison, career wise, because he was rather preoccupied with planning his wedding to Renee Puente, which took place on October 18th followed shortly after by his annual Halloween party. 2015 looks busier though; Morrison is to make his post-Glee return to Broadway to take the lead role of J.M Barrie in the musical adaptation of Finding Neverland.
Credit: Little, Brown
Chris Colfer: It would possibly be easier to list what Chris Colfer didn’t do in 2014. Besides keeping us all entertained on Twitter and Instagram, Colfer found time to fit in writing an episode of Glee and “Old Dog New Tricks” aired on May 6th 2014. Shortly after, it was confirmed that Colfer will take on the lead role of a young Noel Coward in an upcoming biopic about the playwright, simply entitled Noel.
Chris Colfer also managed to fit in another book release during the summer. The third instalment of children’s series, The Land of Stories: A Grimm Warning was released, and a fourth instalment is expected in 2015, in fact one of the big announcements for Colfer this year was the massive deal he has signed with publishers Little, Brown, which will see him releasing material with them into 2016. As if none of this was quite enough, Colfer also managed to bag a People’s Choice Award for Favourite TV Comedic Actor.
Credit: Logo TV
Darren Criss: Well there’s still no sign of the long awaited album from Mr Criss, but he did find time to visit London in the summer and wow attendees of the G4 Glee convention with a beautiful acoustic set, as well as spending time with fans at photo sessions and meet and greets. I was there, and it was the highlight of my year for me.
Criss has appeared in a few things besides Glee this year, most notably a music video for A Great Big World’s “Already Home,” a Big parody starring Evan Rachel Wood and also as host for the 2014 New, Now and Next Awards. Just the other week, Criss performed the ballad “Proud of Your Boy” from Broadway’s Aladdin as part of an ABC special. Darren also continues to support the Trevor Project and look pretty. Without doubt one of the most talented cast members; it will be interesting to see where Darren goes after Glee. Will that elusive album finally drop?
Credit: People
Naya Rivera Dorsey: Naya started the year engaged to rapper Big Sean. In April 2014 it was announced that they had spilt, and in July 2014 Naya married actor Ryan Dorsey. Despite reports to the contrary, Naya did return for Glee season 6, though she is only billed as a guest star and not a cast lead. It would appear that she exits the show on or around episode 9 after her character marries Brittany.
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Dianna Agron: Dianna returned for Glee’s 100th episode celebrations, and then expressed a desire to return for the sixth season after creator Ryan Murphy said all would be welcome. So Quinn has returned for a few episodes at least, though bizzarely not for the wedding of Santana and Brittany and Blaine and Kurt. Anyhow, this year, Dianna also appeared in the music video for Sam Smith’s “I’m not the Only One.”
Credit: Getty Images
Amber Riley: After her 2013 Dancing With the Stars win, Riley didn’t stop to rest. Her debut single “Colorblind” was released in April, and was also featured on Glee, proving yet again (as if we didn’t know) that Amber is an amazing vocalist. Her album has no release date yet, and Riley has most recently performed a holiday concert in LA.
Credit: E4
Kevin McHale: In January of this year, it was announced that McHale would host a new panel show for E4 entitled Virtually Famous. The show aired from July 2014, and has already been picked up for a second series. McHale has also signed on to play a supporting role in the Dustin Hoffman led film, Boychoir, and will also join Aaron Tveit in comedy film They Might Be Kennedys.
It seems as though 2014 has been a busy year for some cast members and a quieter one for others, and I’m guessing the same will happen when the show finally comes to an end. Some will disappear altogether, while others will forge ahead with their own careers but no doubt all will be grateful for the amazing opportunity Glee has afforded them.