Cory Monteith's Finn Hudson will be written out in the upcoming third episode of Glee, Fox entertainment chairman Kevin Reilly told reporters Thursday at the Television Critics Association.
Decisions are still under way with how the character will creatively exit the series, but Reilly confirmed that the cast and creators of the series will film public service announcements about drug addiction. Additionally, proceeds from the third episode of Glee's upcoming fifth season will be donated to a new fund for the late actor.
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Monteith was found dead in his Vancouver hotel room July 13. He was 31. An autopsy revealed he died of "mixed drug toxicity, involving heroin and alcohol." Fox delayed the season five premiere of Glee a week and will now launch the series Sept. 26.
The cast returns to production Monday following last week's private memorial on-set with creators, crew and colleagues. Co-creator Ryan Murphy told The Hollywood Reporter that the plan is to pay tribute to Monteith -- whom he described as an "older son" -- with a tribute during the show's third episode, assuming he and the producers "can get it perfect."
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"The right thing to do for the show, at least at this point, is to have that character pass," Murphy said. "When we do the tribute episode to that character, we'll have to do it in a way where the castmembers will not have to re-create feelings of grief that they’ve had [following Monteith's death] -- but do it in an upbeat way. If we can do this responsibly and help young people through these feelings, that’s the best that we can hope for."
Murphy -- who noted he was taking cues for the show from Monteith's real-life girlfriend and Glee star Lea Michele -- said his team didn't intend to tackle the tribute episode until after last week's memorial, as so much of the cast and crew are still making sense of their emotions. Grief counselors will be on the Glee set for several weeks once production resumes.
More to come…
