Co-Stars Kevin McHale and Jenna Ushkowitz share their shock as Amber Riley reveals the surprising ‘Glee’ storyline that she nixed in both its graphic form and a more subdued take.
Amber Riley had to put her foot down after reading one Glee scene involving her character Mercedes and another member of the school’s glee club.
The revelation took her co-stars Kevin McHale and Jenna Ushkowitz by surprise as the singer and actress broke it down on the latest episode of their podcast about their time on the show, And That’s What You REALLY Missed.
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“There was supposed to be an episode where she lost her virginity to Sam,” said Riley of the character played by Chord Overstreet, per Us Weekly. She said she told executive producer Brad Falchuk, “Absolutely not.”
According to Riley, Falchuk then suggested that because she’d rejected the “full-blown-sex scene,” how about an alternative. “He said, ‘Well, what if we just you know, have you guys hold hands and walk into the room and then like close the door?’”
She wasn’t too keen on that idea, either, though, offering Falchuk another definitely, “No.”
McHale was impressed with Riley’s fortitude in pushing back on something she wasn’t comfortable, telling her, “Amazing. Respect.”
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“I said, ‘I’m not doing it. I don’t ever tell you guys ‘no.’ I don’t fight about anything… But, this?!?” Riley recalled. It wasn’t even just the scene in particular, but what that would mean moving forward for her character, who was a virgin at the time on the show.
“It just would have been so awkward, and I feel like it would have read awkward,” she said. “I also just feel like, yeah, it wasn’t what my character would have done. I just didn’t feel that way.”
In particular, she didn’t understand why Mercedes wouldn’t “stick to her guns” from when she’d said on Season 5 she intended to wait for marriage.
Mercedes and Sam did get involved romantically on the show, with Riley saying it was a positive experience as a performer. “He’s just so sweet,” she said of Overstreet. “It was very much so like his character. He’s like boy Bambi.”
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That helped her navigate the oft-discussed challenges for young performers to portray a romantic relationship on TV. “I was always the kind of person who in general was very career-focused and driven,” explained Riley. “I didn’t date a lot in general, so, like, living that out on television was awkward.”
She was also concerned about how that relationship would progress and how her character would be perceived and presented as a “bigger girl on television.”
“So you wanna kind of protect that, and I think they did an excellent job,” she said. “I think they did a really great job [with] even showing high school relationships [because] they’re not that deep. They are very surface-level, you know what I’m saying?”
