Cory Monteith's Glee Co-Stars Reveal How They Cope With His Death: 'If You Don't, You're Just Gonna Cry'

Cory Monteith will forever be missed, and his Glee co-stars have found ways to deal with their grief over the years.

This year marked 10 years since the actor’s tragic drug overdose, and on Wednesday’s episode of Kevin McHale and Jenna Ushkowitz‘s podcast And That’s What You REALLY Missed, the Fox show’s cast opened up about how they’re able to handle life without Corey. Their guest, Ashley Fink (who portrayed Lauren Zizes in the show), talked about how as of recording the episode it had been a decade since the tragic loss:

“10 years. That’s like a lifetime. That’s like a third of our lives for us young ones.”

Jenna, the 37-year-old actress who you may also know as Tina Cohen-Chang, then quipped:

“That’s half my life. I’m 20.”

After her joke, Kevin AKA Artie Abrams chimed in and admitted it’s not uncommon for the group of co-stars to make light of the tragedy:

“We make a lot of dark jokes about it because if you don’t, you’re just gonna cry. It’s a coping mechanism, I think, because it’s gotten so crazy.”

These jokes can be shocking to outsiders, though! The 35-year-old actor went on to recall an instance in which their group made a joke and it didn’t sit well with their audience:

“Ashley and I were at the Austin TV Festival and I made a joke like that and the room just went silent. I realized it only works amongst us experienced in this very peculiar specific thing.”

Awkward!

Jenna, however, quickly chimed in that this isn’t something to be concerned about:

“We’ve all worked through it in therapy.”

Ashley then added that this is the best way for their group of friends to ‘cope’:

“Our dark jokes, they were like ‘Wow, you guys probably need some help.’ Oh no, we got it, this is how we cope.”

This isn’t something that’s uncommon, either! According to PsychCentral, traumatic events like the sudden loss of a loved one can cause some major problems with someone’s overall mental well-being, so using humor or making jokes can lessen the blow. According to the company, a 2015 study with victims of tragedy actually suggested that making light of the situation they were in helped reduce symptoms of trauma and PTSD. So the Glee alums definitely aren’t alone in their coping!

On the 10 year anniversary of Corey’s death, Kevin took to Twitter to remember him as well as their other late co-star, Naya Rivera. He wrote:

“10 years ago today I was in London with Naya. We immediately met up after being woken up by the worst possible news. We spent the day partly in shock, partly laughing at our memories, partly crying at the impossibility of it all. 10 years later, not a day has gone by where I don’t miss you – both of you. Thanks for sharing your light with us for as brief as it was. “

See the full post (below):

10 years ago today I was in London with Naya. We immediately met up after being woken up by the worst possible news. We spent the day partly in shock, partly laughing at our memories, partly crying at the impossibility of it all. 10 years later, not a day has gone by where I…

— Kevin McHale (@druidDUDE) July 13, 2023