Amber Riley: Filming ‘Glee’ Tribute Episode Was ‘Very Therapeutic’

Amber Riley Glee Tribute — Courtesy Of Ellen, Fox

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Amber Riley was one of the original cast members on ‘Glee’, and is now revealing how emotional it was to film the tribute for Cory Monteith, and how it gave the cast the opportunity to say a final goodbye to both Cory and Finn Hudson.

The episode of Glee that will pay tribute to Cory Monteith will air October 10, and we’ve already braced ourselves for the tears. In a new interview, Amber Riley has revealed that it will absolutely be a “tearjerker,” but filming was full of both tears and laughter for the cast and crew.

Amber Riley: ‘Glee’ Tribute Episode Is ‘Touching’

“It was [heavy] in a way,” Amber said to describe the filming of The Quarterback to Ellen DeGeneres. “It was very therapeutic for us because we got to sing, you know and kind of express to him the songs we were doing, how we felt about him, and Ryan [Murphy], Brad [Falchuk] and Ian [Brennan] did such an excellent job writing the script.”

Part of that therapeutic experience was singing for Cory and remembering all the good times they had together. However, Amber admitted she did break down while singing her solo.

“Singing the song to him, the specific song I sing, it’s very touching,” she said. “People are going to recognize the song when they hear it. But we also were laughing, you know, reminiscing, watching old videos of Cory dancing, and our first time in New York on a private plan and how goofy we were. It was times of laughter, also.”

‘Glee’ Tribute Allows Fans & Cast To Say Goodbye

Don’t put your tissues away just yet, though. The episode is a final goodbye to both Cory for the cast, and Finn for us fans who have grown to know and love him over the four seasons.

“The fans are going to be able to say goodbye to Cory and say goodbye to Finn also,” Amber said. “We had to say goodbye also to that character, because he’s not going to be there anymore.”

Amber added that yes, the episode is “a tearjerker.”

“He’s passed now and I just try to think of the good memories and there’s a lot, because he was a wonderful person,” she ended the interview with.