“Naya [Rivera] and I fell into stride with such ease,” Dianna Agron, 34, wrote at the start of her lengthy tribute to her Glee co-star. In the July 14 Instagram post, Dianna remembered Naya – whose body was recovered from California’s Lake Piru, following a boating accident, on July 13 – as her “first friend and ally on our show. In the pilot, our characters came and went with such swiftness. Our enthusiasm brimmed with all of the unknown. We tried to grasp what the other cast members must be feeling as we were working in such separate manners. We dared to dream. What if this show worked? Wouldn’t that be something? Something was brimming, it was palpable. And thank god it worked. Naya’s magnetic talent was going to be unleashed, we just didn’t know it yet.”
“I’ve been revisiting Naya’s performances on our show, and it has brought me great joy,” continued Dianna, who portrayed Quinn Fabray on the Fox musical comedy. “To work with [Naya] was a gift. There was a great deal to absorb – her work ethic, her fearlessness, her talent – supreme. Naya had a laugh that would envelop you and hold you captive. She was mesmerizing. That twinkle in her eye, her luminous smile. Naya lead with truth, humor, wit. I loved her for all of these reasons.”
“I loved her sense of curiosity and wanderlust. I was lucky enough to be her travel partner for some of my most favorite adventures. As I write this, I’m grinning with swelling memories of a spontaneous 36-hour excursion – one might even say diversion – to Paris. With Naya, everything was possible and would often simply unfold before us, almost magically,” added Dianna. She remembered this Paris trip, how she and Naya “found ourselves strolling the halls of L’École des Beaux-Arts, sipping wine from paper cups with students showcasing their latest work. It was fantastic. We were united in our commitment to discovery. And there was always a list of cleverly curated ideas in Naya’s back pocket, should we need it.”
Despite these pleasant memories, Dianna wrote that she “cannot make sense of this tremendous loss. I will hold onto her and these memories for the rest of the time, alongside our Glee family. Please hold space for her, her family, her beautiful boy.”
Naya was reported missing on July 8 after she and her four-year-old son, Josey Hollis Dorsey, were late in returning a rented pontoon boat on Lake Piru, northwest of Los Angeles. Naya’s boy was found unharmed in the boat, but his mother was, at first, nowhere to be found. A day after she went missing, authorities presumed she had drowned. Her body was recovered from the waters on July 13, which tragically was also the seventh anniversary of Glee star Cory Monteith’s fatal accidental overdose.
Following her death, Naya’s Glee cast members quickly flocked online to share memories and celebrate their friend’s legacy. Jane Lynch, Adam Lambert, Demi Lovato, Jacob Artist, Amber Riley and more mourned Naya’s death with heartfelt tributes, tearful memories, and loving messages to her family during this heartbreaking time.