TORONTO — The creator and writer of Glee said this week Cory Monteith’s character Finn Hudson will not die of an accidental drug overdose.
“That was something we had considered,” Ryan Murphy told Deadline. “But we have decided that we’re not going to have him pass from that. Basically, what we’re doing in the episode is we are not telling you yet, or maybe not at all, how that character died.”
Monteith died July 13 of a lethal combination of heroin and alcohol in a Vancouver hotel room.
Murphy said the memorial episode, which will be the third episode of the new season, is a celebration of Finn’s life.
“That might be weird for some people, but it felt really exploitative to do it any other way,” he explained.
Murphy said the cast and crew have struggled to get through filming of the two Beatles-themed episodes only days after Monteith’s death.
“There’s been tears on set. It’s been hard for a lot of people,” said Murphy. “But the really difficult thing is coming. We start shooting the memorial episode this week. It turned out to be a lovely tribute, and it’s a very heartfelt look at how young people grieve.”
Murphy called Monteith’s death has had a lasting impact on the show.
“We loved Cory and we loved Finn and it feels like a huge loss and a huge heartache not to have either of them around.”
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