Lea Michele Returning to 'Glee' After Cory Monteith Death, Preparing Late Actor's Show Exit?
Lea Michele will reportedly return to "Glee" following the recent death of her boyfriend and co-star, Cory Monteith.
The 26-year-old actress, who plays Rachel Berry on the musical TV series, was understandably devastated after learning that Monteith, 31, dies from a drug overdose on July 13 however she is reportedly eager to return to work because she feels "safe" in her work environment.
Monteith, who was cremated in recent days, played Finn Hudson on the hit TV series, which will begin its fifth season in coming months. The show's creator Ryan Murphy will reportedly give Michele full control to determine how exactly Monteith's character exits the show.
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"Lea will sign off on everything Ryan brings up to her before something is filmed. Ideas have been thrown around, and one of the reasons to wait to address the death is so the cast can heal a bit and they can also go through every possible idea to make it as poignant and respectable and good for the show as possible," a source told HollywoodLife.com.
Michele was reportedly with friends when she received a call about the devastating news. Although she s still grieving, she is allegedly trying to be strong for those around her including her "Glee" cast mates.
"Lea knows how to be a professional and she knows many of the cast needs the money so she is ready to get back and get back some semblance of a normal life," the source shared. "She feels that she'll be safe in the environment of work with her cast and crew of friends."
Monteith was found dead in a Vancouver hotel room on July 13 and authorities confirmed that the actor died of a heroin and alcohol overdose.
"Mr. Monteith was alone [in his hotel room] when he died," a VPD spokesperson said according to RadarOnline.com. "He took the heroin when he was alone by himself."
The actor, who was 31 at the time of his death, spent a night out with friends Friday before heading back to his hotel room during the early hours of Saturday morning. Police reportedly found evidence in his hotel room that was consistent with a drug overdose.
"There was no sign of anything suspicious or out of the ordinary [but]...there was evidence in the room that was consistent with a drug overdose," the spokesperson revealed.
"I won't go into specifics about what was in the room, but that was our investigators' initial finding, that they believed it was a drug overdose" the rep added.
Michele reportedly became hysterical after learning about Monteith's passing. The pair began dating in early 2012 and the actress was a strong source of support for him during his ongoing battle with addiction.
"Lea started screaming, she was distraught. No one knew what to say. It was horrible. She couldn't believe it," a source told PEOPLE magazine. "She needed to get out of her house, it was extremely emotional. So she left and stayed in the home of her friend."
