Matthew Morrison was ‘trying to get off’ of ‘Glee’ before Cory Monteith’s death: ‘No disrespect’

nypost.com:

died that same year — Morrison’s decision to leave the cursed Fox musical dramedy was shot down by producers. On a recent episode of the “And That’s What You REALLY Missed” podcast, hosted by “Glee” alums Jenna Ushkowitz and Kevin McHale, the Broadway actor, 45, got candid about feeling miserable on the show.“I actually was trying to get off the show,” Morrison — who played teacher Will Schuester who helmed the school’s glee club — recalled. “In Season 5, I asked to be off the show, just ‘cause like, I’m no longer being used in the way I wanted to.”The “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” actor noted that he wanted to pursue other projects such as film.

He continued: “No disrespect to the show. We were at a high, 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.”While showrunners were at first fine with letting Morrison off the hook, things changed when Monteith passed away.The “Monte Carlo” star — who played football player Finn Hudson — died in July 2013 at the age of 31 due to a combination of drug and alcohol toxicity.

Season 5 of “Glee” aired that same year and even included a tribute episode to Monteith called “The Quarterback.”“Cory passed, and then they said they couldn’t do it,” Morrison said. “Because you can’t have the two main guys on the show [leave].

So yeah, it was an interesting time.”However, the “Hairspray” star “understood” the producers’ decision to keep him on the air.“I was like ‘Yeah, I get it,’” he said. “You know, trying to reconcile my own wants and selfish needs with the grief of losing an amazing friend, you know, there’s a lot of just mixed emotions.