GLEE Television Cast: Where Are They Now?

It’s been more than 17 years since the hit Fox musical series Glee premiered in May 2009. 

At the time, the TV show about a high school glee club known as the New Directions became a cultural phenomenon, and Broadway fans couldn’t get enough of the pop song and musical theater mashups performed each week. 

A lot has happened since the first time those McKinley High School show choir kids took a slushie to the face. While some Glee cast members returned to their Broadway roots — and others even made their Main Stem debut — a few of the actors tragically died far too soon. 

Co-creator Ryan Murphy also recently said that he’d be open to revisiting the popular television show with a potential reboot (check out BroadwayWorld’s casting picks here). 

Below, BroadwayWorld looks at where the Glee cast members are now nearly two decades after the show premiered. 

Matthew Morrison

Matthew Morrison was already a big Broadway star before he was cast as McKinley High Spanish teacher Will Schuester, who is also director of the glee club, on Glee. He originated the roles of Link Larkin in Hairspray, Fabrizio Naccarelli in The Light in the Piazza and Thad Lapin in A Naked Girl on the Appian Way before joining the series.  

After Glee wrapped in 2015, Morrison made his way back to the Great White Way by starring as J.M. Barrie in Finding Neverland in 2015, but it would be about a decade before he appeared on Broadway again following his departure from the musical in early 2016. 

He most recently returned to Broadway in Just in Time in the role of Bobby Darin, which was originated by fellow Glee alum Jonathan Groff. “Back where I belong after 10 years,” Morrison captioned an April 3 Instagram post. “Thank you to everyone both onstage and off who have had a hand in this process. It’s such an honor and a privilege to be your Bobby Darin.” 

Morrison appeared on other TV series, including The Good Wife, Grey’s Anatomy and American Horror Story. He also starred as the Grinch in NBC’s Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch Musical Live! in 2020.

In his personal life, Morrison married Renee Puente on October 18, 2014, and the two welcomed two children: son Revel, who was born in October 2017, and daughter Phoenix, who was born in June 2021.

Lea Michele 

Though Lea Michele was already a Broadway star — known for originating the role of Wendla Bergmann in the Tony Award-winning musical Spring Awakening — by the time she landed Glee, the show skyrocketed her to superstardom. 

Much like her character Rachel Berry, Michele couldn’t be kept away from Broadway for too long. She made her grand return to the Great White Way by replacing Beanie Feldstein as Fanny Brice in Funny Girl in 2022, garnering rave reviews for her performance. She then came back to Broadway again in the 2025 Broadway revival of Chess opposite Aaron Tveit and Nicholas Christopher. 

During an exclusive interview with BroadwayWorld’s Richard Ridge at Sardi’s, Michele reflected on returning to the Imperial Theatre, where she performed during her run in the original Broadway production of Les Miz.

“The smell is the same,” Michele said. “I walk out onstage to sing ‘Someone Else’s Story’ [in Chess] at the end of the show, and I’m just all alone by myself on the stage. I think it’s the only time that I’m all alone on the stage, and it’s the last song that I sing, and I look right at the center mark, and I think, ‘That’s where I stood to sing ‘Castle on a Cloud’ when I was 8.” 

“It’s an unbelievable, unbelievable full-circle moment,” she said. 

Michele, who also worked with Ryan Murphy on Scream Queens following Glee, became a wife when she married businessman Zandy Reich in March 2019. They welcomed son Ever in August 2020 and daughter Emery in the summer of 2024. The actress also remains incredibly close with BFF and former Glee and Spring Awakening actor Groff.

Jane Lynch 

No one was more iconic than Jane Lynch as the Cheerios’ cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester on Glee. The actress, who won an Emmy Award for her performance on the TV musical series, won another Emmy for her performance as comic Sophie Lennon on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. 

Lynch continued appearing in TV series including The Good Fight, Only Murders in the Building and Velma, and she also hosts the revival of the popular television gane show The Weakest Link. 

After making her Broadway debut as Miss Hannigan in the 2012 revival of Annie, Lynch returned to Broadway in the revival of Funny Girl as Mrs. Rosie Brice — though she and Glee co-star Michele never overlapped during their respective runs.

“She basically had her dream come true — and the dream for the show come true — for Funny Girl,” Lynch said after her departure, as previously reported by BroadwayWorld. “And she just really killed it, knocked it out of the park. We almost overlapped. There’s a part of me now going, ‘You should have stayed. You should have stayed.’” 

Cory Monteith

Cory Monteith’s star was on the rise when he was playing teen heartthrob Finn Hudson on Glee. However, he tragically died on July 13, 2013, at age 31 from an overdose of heroin and alcohol in a Vancouver hotel room. At the time, he was dating co-star Michele, and Glee was going into its fifth season. 

Monteith’s death was incorporated into the show, with the episode titled “The Quarterback” serving as both Finn’s farewell and the cast’s emotional tribute. 

Michele and the other cast members have opened up about the tragic loss since then, with his former girlfriend posting a sweet tribute on the 10-year anniversary of his death. 

“Hey you. 10 years,” she captioned a black-and-white photo of them on Instagram. “It feels like only yesterday that you were here and yet a million years ago all at the same time. I hold all of our memories in my heart where they will stay safe and never forgotten. We miss you every day and will never forget the light you brought to us all. I miss you big guy. I hope you found Taylor up there and are playing the drums together. 🤍.” 

Chris Colfer

Chris Colfer is unforgettable as Kurt Hummel on Glee. In fact, he received a Golden Globe Award for his performance as well as three consecutive People’s Choice Awards for Favorite Comedic TV Actor and two Emmy Award nominations. 

While Colfer continued acting after Glee and made appearances in Hot in Cleveland and Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie, he also focused his creative efforts on writing. Colfer wrote, starred in, produced and novelized the 2012 film Struck by Lightning, which debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival. He has also written over 20 books, including the New York Times bestselling The Land of Stories series of children’s fiction books.  

Surprisingly, Colfer doesn’t have many theater credits on his résumé, and he’s yet to perform on Broadway. However, in March 2012, the actor played Ryan Kendall in a benefit performance of Dustin Lance Black’s play 8, about the federal trial that overturned California’s Prop 8 ban on same-sex marriage. 

In his personal life, Colfer has been in a long-term relationship with actor and producer Will Sherrod since 2013. Earlier this year, they celebrated their anniversary, with Colfer posting a sweet Instagram tribute to Sherrod. “13 years!” he captioned a photo of them together. “Happy Anniversary to the best boyfriend and dog dad on the planet! ❤️.”  

Amber Riley 

Mercedes Jones was known for bringing down the house with her limitless vocal range on Glee, but it’s unlikely Amber Riley will be doing that on Broadway anytime soon. 

Earlier this year, Riley reacted to a Threads post claiming that New York City is “running these theater actors ragged.” In response, the Glee alum agreed, stating: “That’s why when people hassle me about [doing Broadway], I say when the culture changes maybe I’ll do it. But as of now, asking people to sing at the top of their range 8 shows a week without proper support or compensation, absolutely not. You can have all the training in the world, which I do, and you can STILL injure. It’s not sustainable or healthy. Any ENT doctor will tell you that 🫠.” 

However, audiences would be lucky to see Riley perform live. In 2016, she played Effie White in the West End production of Dreamgirls and won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical as well as the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Musical Performance. She also played Addaperle in the 2015 production of NBC’s The Wiz Live!. 

Riley is also an epic reality TV show participant. She won the 17th season of Dancing With the Stars in 2013, and she also won the eighth season of The Masked Singer as the “Harp.”  

Kevin McHale

While Kevin McHale became known for playing Artie Abrams on Glee, he didn’t venture into a career in musical theater until just recently. After his time on the musical TV series, McHale began to pursue solo music — releasing his solo EP Boy in 2019 — and joined forces with co-star Jenna Ushkowitz for the Glee lookback podcast And That’s What You Really Missed. 

In recent years, McHale has been busy performing in the New York theater scene, playing William Barfee in the 2025 Off-Broadway production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee — which he recently left to make his Broadway debut as Brad Majors in the revival of The Rocky Horror Show. In his Rocky Horror bio, McHale dedicated his performance to late co-star Monteith. “For Cory, his forever Brad,” McHale wrote, referencing the Rocky Horror-themed episode of Glee they starred in. 

In his personal life, McHale is in a relationship with Spring Awakening actor Austin P. McKenzie. McHale recently celebrated McKenzie’s birthday with a sweet post on Instagram, writing: “It’s my man’s birthday! The most special boy. I feel so lucky to get older with you and to watch you get gray hairs. I love you so stupidly much. You little weirdo.”  

Jenna Ushkowitz

Jenna Ushkowitz, who played Tina Cohen-Chang on Glee, also co-hosts the And That’s What You Really Missed podcast with McHale. While she has a handful of Broadway credits to her name — including The King and I and the original production of Spring Awakening as well as Waitress — she has mainly focused on producing in recent Broadway seasons. 

Ushkowitz was a producer on Broadway’s Once on This Island, which won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical in 2018. Ushkowitz also served as a co-producer on the Broadway Revival of The Inheritance and Be More Chill as well as the West End’s The Jungle. 

In her personal life, she is now a mother of two. She and husband David Stanley share daughter Emma, born in June 2022, and son Graham, born in November 2024. 

Dianna Agron 

Following Dianna Agron’s time as head Cheerio Quinn Fabray on Glee, the actress began focusing on film, starring in 2011’s I Am Number Four, 2013’s The Family and 2015’s Bare. She ventured into directing and singing as well, with multiple residencies at New York City’s Café Carlyle.  

Looking back on her time on Glee, Agron told Rolling Stone in 2023 that it feels “strange” given how young she and her co-stars were when they shot the series. “If I see footage of myself from that period, I see my youth and I see the heart and community and family we had with each other,” she said. “It’s emotional, nostalgic, heartwarming, and career-affirming. That experience opened up so many doors, and I’m so grateful that that’s how I learned everything.” 

In her personal life, Agron was married to Mumford & Sons guitarist Winston Marshall in 2016 before they separated in 2019 and divorced in 2020.

Heather Morris

Heather Morris’ Brittany S. Pierce was initially intended to be a background character but grew into the beloved Cheerio with epic one-liners fans simply can’t get enough of. 

In a 2010 interview with The Advocate, Morris explained that she was working on tour with Beyoncé before landing the Glee gig. “After I finished the tour, I started working with choreographer Zach Woodley, who started hiring me to do things like Fired Up! and Eli Stone. After that, I got invited to do the small Single Ladies tour she was doing for stuff like the AMAs and SNL,” she explained. 

“Prior to the Single Ladies tour I was supposed to move to New York to do West Side Story, but then I dropped dancing and started acting classes because I didn't want to dance anymore and I really wanted to fulfill my lifelong dream of acting,” she continued. “Zach called me and was like, ‘Are you in New York?’ I was like, ‘No, I'm still here in L.A. and I’m acting.’ He was like, ‘OK, I need you to come in and teach the “Single Ladies” dance to Chris Colfer and Jenna Ushkowitz for this TV show I’m doing, Glee. Since you’re acting now, I know Ryan Murphy would love to consider you for a part. Look as cute as you can so he’ll love you even more.’ So I went in to teach the kids with a full-on outfit. I was scheduled to read with Ryan Murphy twice, but he canceled both times. After that, Zach called me and said they might not hire me anyway because they wanted the third cheerleader to be Black, so my hopes were shot. But then my agent called a week later and said, ‘You’re now cast as Brittany in Glee.’ So it was nuts.”

Following Glee, Morris appeared on Dancing With the Stars and won The Masked Dancer, and she recently starred in the Off-Broadway immersive dance show 11 to Midnight. Morris married Taylor Hubbell in May 2015, and the two share two sons. 

Naya Rivera

Like her onscreen girlfriend Morris, Naya Rivera’s Santana Lopez was a recurring character before being promoted to a series regular in the show’s second season. Rivera also pursued music and film, and she wrote a memoir titled Sorry Not Sorry: Dreams, Mistakes, and Growing Up, which was published in September 2016. 

On July 13, 2020, Rivera was found dead after she drowned at Lake Piru, near Santa Clarita, California, while saving her then 4-year-old son Josey Hollis Dorsey — whom she shares with ex-husband Ryan Dorsey — during a boating trip just days earlier. It’s believed that Rivera and her son were likely caught in a rip current. After saving her son, Rivera likely exhausted herself and drowned. At the time, she was between seasons of the TV series Step Up, on which she played the role of Collette Jones.  

It was reported in August that Josey booked his first on-screen role in The Burning Valley, a feature film from writer-director Evan Coury that will also star his father. A representative for Dorsey told People, “Ryan says he is a very proud dad. Josey has been working very hard and has shown incredible growth as an actor.”

Mark Salling

Mark Salling played Noah “Puck” Puckerman on the television series Glee. However, shortly after his time on the series, he was arrested for possession of child pornography. In 2017, he pleaded guilty to the charges as part of a plea deal, but before his sentencing in 2018, he died by suicide on January 30.

Darren Criss 

Though Darren Criss’ Blaine Anderson was introduced in the second season of Glee — and was part of the rival group the Dalton Academy Warblers — he is probably one of the show’s most memorable characters. Following Glee, Criss had a successful career in both television and on Broadway. 

Criss starred as serial killer Andrew Cunanan in Ryan Murphy’s The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story. He received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor — Miniseries or Television Film. 

On Broadway, he appeared in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, American Buffalo and Maybe Happy Ending, for which he received the 2025 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical. 

Criss married longtime girlfriend Mia Swier in 2019, and the two share daughter Bluesy Belle and son Brother László. He dedicated his Tony to his wife, saying in his speech, “The real hero for this remarkable journey is my wife, Mia, who took a massive swing on allowing me to do this and to allow this crazy upheaval in our life to make this logistically possible and for bearing the brunt of raising two tiny friends under 3 so that I could raise a singing robot at the Belasco Theatre eight times a week. Mia, you’re the very pedestal that upholds the shiny spinny bit in our lives, and your love and your support for me and our beautiful children combined with the miracle of working on something as magical as Maybe Happy Ending has been and will always be award enough.”

Harry Shum Jr.

Harry Shum Jr. may be best known for playing Mike Chang on Glee, but he went on to appear in a slew of film and TV projects. Shum played Magnus Bane on the Freeform television series Shadowhunters and Dr. Benson Kwan on Grey’s Anatomy. His credits also include Crazy Rich Asians, Everything Everywhere All at Once, Step Up 2: The Streets, Step Up 3D, White Frog, Revenge of the Green Dragons, All My Life, Love Hard and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny, among others. 

Looking back on the series, Shum said on an episode of the Call It What It Is podcast that he’s able to “celebrate” the performances of his late co-stars. “I look at Naya, Cory and Mark, and look at the beautiful work that they put in, and the humor that they brought to so many,” he said. “You can look at what could have been and, unfortunately, the past is the way it is, and you can’t really do much to change that outside of right now, and to celebrate how many lives that they affected, how many people that got some joy from their performances and songs that will live on forever.”  

Shum married actress and dancer Shelby Rabara in November 2015, and they share a daughter.

Alex Newell 

Alex Newell made their way to Glee by way of The Glee Project, playing Unique Adams on the series.

They made their Broadway debut in Once on This Island before starring as Lulu in Shucked (for which they won the 2023 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical) and as Matron “Mama” Morton in Chicago. Most recently, Newell returned to the New York stage as Rona Lisa Peretti in the Off-Broadway production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. 

Upon making history as the first non-binary performer to win a Tony Award (along with J. Harrison Ghee, who also won a Tony that same year), Newell said, “I have wanted this my entire life. And I thank each and every one of you in this room right now. And Mommy, I love you, thank you for believing in me, thank you for loving me unconditionally. Thank you for teaching me what strength is. To my entire building and cast and crew of Shucked, you are my rock, I love you all. Thank you for seeing me, Broadway. I should not be up here as a queer, non-binary, fat, Black, little baby from Massachusetts. And to anyone that thinks that they can’t do it, I am going to look you dead in your face [knowing] that you can do anything you put your mind to.”

Chord Overstreet 

Chord Overstreet played Sam Evans, a transfer student, on Glee since the show’s second season. Following his time on the show, Overstreet signed a recording contract with Safehouse Records in December 2015 and opened for Demi Lovato and Nick Jonas on several tour dates of their Future Now Tour in summer 2016. 

His single “Hold On,” which was released in February 2017, was certified double-platinum by the RIAA in August 2021.

Aside from music, Overstreet also made appearances on a handful of television series, including The Bold Type, Royalties and Pickle and Peanut. He appeared in the Apple TV+ comedy series Acapulco, the film The Swing of Things and the 2022 romantic comedy film Falling for Christmas opposite Lindsay Lohan.

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