Ryan Murphy Talks 'Heartfelt' Monteith Tribute Episode

Deadline.com's Christy Grosz spoke exclusively to Glee creator Ryan Murphy this week about the challenges faced in writing the upcoming memorial episode in tribute to Cory Monteith. The actor passed away on Saturday, July 13 as a result of an accidental drug overdose.

"There were a lot of things that we had to decide," explained Murphy. "how are we going to deal with his death? At one point, we were going to have his character die after an accidental drug overdose-that was something we had considered. But we have decided that we're not going to have him pass from that."

He reveals, "we say very early on in the episode, "This episode is about a celebration of that character's life." That might be weird for some people, but it felt really exploitative to do it any other way."

Murphy believes that it was the strong bond among cast and crew that got them through the difficult and emotional period, but feels that Glee fans will be very satisfied with the end result. "I think it turned out to be a lovely tribute, and it's a very heartfelt look at how young people grieve," he said of the special episode.

Read the interview in its entirety here.

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