Monteith with Lea Michelle

Dammit. There are just no words. It just makes me want to hug my own kids. Cory Monteith, you never seemed to let any of that crazy Glee fame ride go to your head.

“I remember thinking when we found Cory it’s a good thing he’s Canadian because otherwise he’d be an asshole,” Glee co-creator and executive producer Ian Brennan once told me. “He’s really good looking, really nice–of course, you’re from Canada.”
I first met Monteith in January of 2009 at a Fox TCA party. This was several months before Glee premiered. Critics got to see the pilot early and you knew this show was going to have an impact.
Glee was Monteith’s first U.S. gig. I recount the story of his wild car ride from Vancouver to Los Angeles for the audition here in this feature filed Sunday for The Canadian Press.
Monteith was a proud Vancouver Canucks fan and often tweeted out support for his team.
He told me that first interview about calling up his mom to tell her he was about to become a TV star.
“I’m so happy for you,” she said.
Monteith didn’t think she got the full ramifications of this deal. “Mom, my pilot got picked up by Fox. They picked us up for 13 episodes. Fox is following American Idol in spring.”
“Oh that’s so great,” she replied.
“No Mom, you don’t get it—this is the job every beginning actor wants.”
Finally Monteith got it. “I think she’s just happy for me, no matter what happens.”
Dammit, Cory. You’d come so far.

Rest in Peace.

He just always seemed like a guy who knew he’d won the lottery

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