Mike O’Malley Remembers Cory Monteith: He Was ‘Incredibly Warm’ And Glee’s Real-Life ‘Quarterback’

Mike O’Malley is the latest Glee star to remember his co-star and friend Cory Monteith.

O’Malley was recently taking part in a panel for his new NBC comedy Welcome To The Family when he opened up about Monteith.

Mike O’Malley played Monteith’s stepfather on Glee and had this to say about the tragic death of the young actor:

“He was very, very hardworking actor, and I just loved working with him. He was a great guy and I miss him very much.”

O’Malley then remembered an emotional scene he shared with Cory Monteith during season one:

“Many of my scenes were usually with either Chris Colfer or Cory Monteith and I think that I had what was probably the toughest scene I’ve ever acted in my career as an actor opposite him, when I had to throw [Finn] out of the house because of a slur that he used.”

O’Malley then added:

“It was remarkable to me when we were shooting that scene over and over again the depth of emotion he was able to portray, the sorrow, the shame.”

The actor also says Cory Monteith was the real “leader” on the Glee set:

“Ever since I met him, he was the fictional quarterback on the show and he was the very real quarterback on that set. He was an incredibly warm guy who was welcoming to everyone who came onto that show from the beginning through the new folks who came onto the show this past year.”

Mike O’Malley says he hopes for a return to Glee when episode three of season five pays tribute to Cory Monteith.

O’Malley explains:

“I’m here doing Welcome to the Family. We shoot one episode five days a week…Burt is a very, very important role to me. It’s been a great, great part and I said to all those guys, I will work early in the morning, late at night, Saturday, Sunday, whatever I need to do to participate… [and] to honor Cory and his passing and that character,” O’Malley said. “He is, on that show, my stepson, so I certainly plan on being there. I think they are possibly going to be shooting that episode while we we are on hiatus.”

Glee will begin shooting the new season on August 5.