‘Glee’ Stars Had No Idea They Weren’t Coming Back For Season 4

Becky Bain | July 14, 2011 2:18 pm

When speaking to The Hollywood Repoter about cutting Lea Michele, Chris Colfer and Cory Monteith from the fourth season of Glee, series creator Ryan Murphy claimed that he had discussed this move with his actors beforehand. “We made that decision and I involved Chris and Lea and they thought that was a good idea,” he said. He admits not directly speaking to Monteith about Finn’s graduating plans, but reasons, “He knows he was a sophomore when the show started.” Well, as it turns out, this is all news to them!

Chris Colfer, who scored his second consecutive Emmy nomination today for his work on the show, told told Access Hollywood that he learned about his character’s fate not through Murphy, but on Twitter. “I didn’t necessarily know that it was going to be our last season next year, I knew something like that was coming up eventually,” he said. “I don’t necessarily want to leave so soon, but I mean, it’s fine. It’s what it is. And all things come to an end.”

Colfer, who has stated he was unclear about Kurt’s actual age or grade, also spoke to TV Guide: “It’s definitely not my choice but I absolutely respect it and understand why it has to happen.” (Though he’s not that upset, and with good reason: “I’m going to the set of a movie that I’m starring in, wrote and am producing, so that’s not too bad!”)

There’s no word yet on if Lea Michele actually spoke to Murphy before he announced she was off the show, but simply assuming that Monteith knew he wasn’t coming back for Season 4 because he knew he was a sophomore during Season 1 is still a pretty big (and disrespectful) assumption. There is such a thing as spin-offs, or guest appearances, or even having a character become, say, the new Spanish teacher or something.

These actors got bills to pay, Murphy! You can’t surprise them with a pink slip by announcing it to the media before you speak to them directly. Or, we guess you just did.