‘Glee’s’ Lea Michele on Cory Monteith’s Death: ‘I’ve Lost Two People – Cory and Finn’

The actress opens up about her deceased co-star and boyfriend in a new interview

Lea Michele — both the girlfriend and castmate of deceased “Glee” star Cory Monteith — opened up about her grief, revealing that she feels like she’s “lost two people” and exclaiming that there was “no greater man” than Monteith,  who died in July at age 31.

“I feel like, for me personally, I’ve lost two people: Cory and Finn,” Michele told  TV Week Australia, referring to Monteith’s “Glee” character, jock-turned-glee clubber Finn Hudson.

Also read: ‘Glee’s’ Cory Monteith Tribute Episode: 6 Farewell to Finn Hudson Songs (Audio)

Asked whether it’s difficult to carry on with the show in the wake of Monteith’s death, Michele, 27, opined that going back to the set is no more difficult than dealing with Monteith’s death in her personal life.

“Everyone is asking: ‘Is it hard to do this? Is it hard to be back at work?’, but the truth is it’s no harder at work than it is in life  so we might as well all be together as a family supporting each other to get through this  together,” Michele said.

Also read: Ryan Murphy on Cory Monteith ‘Glee’ Tribute Episode: ‘It Was Very Difficult to Shoot’ (Video)

Monteith, who had struggled with substance abuse, was found dead in his Vancouver hotel room July 13, of what the coroner later determined was mixed drug toxicity, involving intravenous heroin use combined with the ingestion of alcohol. A tribute episode, titled “The Quarterback,” is scheduled to air Thursday, and will deal with Hudson’s death.

During the interview, Michele indicated that the cause of Monteith’s death was unimportant in the big picture.

Also read: Cory Monteith ‘Glee’ Tribute Episode First Look (Photo)

“I feel like what happened with Cory was this big in the scheme of who he was and his life,”  Michele told TV Week, gesturing to indicate a small amount.

“There was no greater man than Cory, so for the time we spent together I consider myself very lucky,” Michele added.

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