It’s a huge day for fans of Glee: the high school musical drama is returning.
Created by Ryan Murphy, the original series ran from 2009 until 2015 and holds a nostalgic place in many viewers’ hearts. From catapulting songs into the chart (Journey’s classic track Don’t Stop Believin’ will always be synonymous with the show) to introducing us to iconic characters like the villainous cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester, Glee had a sizeable cultural impact.
While the show was hugely popular, its run was also plagued by tragedies, including the deaths of three major cast members. Fans are questioning how many of the original stars will choose to return for the reboot.
Who is returning from the original cast for the Glee reboot?
Disney and Hulu haven’t officially announced the cast yet, but a few of the original stars have given hints at their involvement.
Murphy told Entertainment Tonight that he’d ‘been in touch with around 10 of the original cast members’. ‘It's very sweet, they all had a lot of questions but they all were very enthusiastic about the idea,’ he said. ‘Nobody's read it, so we'll see.’
Lea Michele
One of the show’s main stars, Lea Michele, who played the ambitious Rachel Berry, is likely to return for the reboot. ‘I will always love Glee,’ she told E! News. ‘I love Ryan Murphy. It just holds such a special place in my heart for me... I will follow Ryan wherever he goes.’
Heather Morris
Posting a throwback picture on Instagram in character as cheerleader Brittany Pierce, Heather Morris has strongly suggested she’s joining the reboot too. ‘Yes ladies and gentle men of women, rumors are true,’ she wrote. ‘Brittany S Pierce was in fact lost in the sewers for all these years. But I’m here to inform you that she is alive and well… And back for more #Glee.’
Chord Overstreet
Playing the role of hunky transfer student Sam Evans, Chord Overstreet also took to social media to allude to his Glee return. In a post on X alongside a gif of him in character, he wrote: ‘Reunited and it feels so good!’
Who might not be returning from the original cast of Glee?
With the news of the reboot dropping this week and no confirmed cast yet, there is still very much room for more of the original cast members to get involved. However, these are the actors that have suggested they might not be taking part.
Chris Colfer
Speaking to Bustle, Chris Colfer, who was charismatic choir member Kurt Hummel in the original Glee, has said he’d struggle with a reboot following the death of Naya Rivera in 2020, who played fan favourite Santana Lopez.
‘It was a really tough show to do, and it would be really hard to do it now that Naya is gone,’ he said. ‘But I do know that Glee fans would probably come after me with pitchforks and jazz hands if I said no. So I don't know, but hopefully I'll have more information and I can actually think about it.’
Matthew Morrison
Sources told Deadline that Matthew Morrison is not in talks to return for the reboot but would be keen to be a part of it. He played the rather controversial director of the high school glee club, Will Schuester (Mr Shue).
The actor previously admitted that he’d asked to be written out of the show during season five of its original run. ‘No disrespect to the show. We are at a high,’ he said on And That’s What You REALLY Missed podcast. ‘I was like, “Maybe if I get off the show, I could go do something else, go do a movie,” and they agreed to let me off the show.’
He said he ended up staying when Cory Monteith, who played Finn Hudson, sadly passed away in 2013. ‘Cory passed, and then they said they couldn’t do it. Because you can’t have the two main guys on the show [leave],’ he said. Sounds like we'll need to watch this space for Morrison's involvement.