From high school hallways to Hollywood heights! Join us as we catch up with the talented stars who once graced the McKinley High choir room. Discover how these former Gleeks have evolved their careers, from Broadway triumphs and Emmy wins to bestselling books and chart-topping music. Whether they're dancing, singing, acting, or producing, the New Directions alumni continue to shine in the spotlight!
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00:00Well, who do we have here?
00:04Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're checking in on the talented cast of Glee to see what we've missed,
00:11and what they're up to now.
00:12Get ready for me, love, cause I'm a comer. I simply gotta march my heart to drummer!
00:19Number 10, Harry Shum Jr., Mike Chang.
00:23Boy, boy, crazy boy, stay loose, boy.
00:28After Glee, this talented dancer-turned-actor landed the major role of Magnus Bain in Shadowhunters,
00:35a series based on the best-selling book series The Mortal Instruments.
00:39While Shum played the centuries-old warlock from 2016 to 2019,
00:44he also appeared in a mid-credits scene in Crazy Rich Asians,
00:48teasing a romance between his character and Astrid Leung-Tio.
00:58A spinoff focusing on their relationship is currently in development.
01:06While you wait for the film to come out, you can get your Harry Shum Jr. fix by watching his performances
01:11in Everything, Everywhere, All at Once, Grey's Anatomy, and Kung Fu Panda 4.
01:16Um, I'm sorry, do I know you? Do you know me? It's Scott!
01:21The fire-breathing crocodile?
01:24Oh, right, Scott!
01:25Number 9, Heather Morris, Brittany S. Pierce.
01:29Beloved by fans, Brittany S. Pierce was just a background character
01:33until Glee writers realized Heather Morris had some serious comedic chops
01:37in addition to her impressive dance skills.
01:40All your people look at me like I'm a little girl
01:44Wouldn't you ever think it'd be okay for me to step into this world?
01:49Since then, she's returned to her dancing roots,
01:52appearing on Dancing with the Stars in 2017
01:54and winning the second season of The Masked Dancer in 2022.
01:59Morris has also served as a master class teacher
02:01and judge for heat convention and competition.
02:04Morris was also a professional dancer and choreographer
02:15before her time on Glee,
02:17so it's understandable that she would return to that industry.
02:20Still, we'd love to see her dust off her acting skills
02:23to return to a comedic role like Brittany.
02:25People thought I went on vacation,
02:27but actually I spent the summer lost in the sewers.
02:30Number 8, Cord Overstreet, Sam Evans.
02:33Red solo cup, uh-huh, I fill you up.
02:38Let's have a party, let's have a party.
02:44With a name like Cord, it's no surprise this Glee star
02:47pursued a music career after the show ended,
02:49but he didn't fully leave his acting dreams behind either.
02:53Overstreet released his debut EP, Treehouse Tapes, in 2017
02:56and has performed on Today and The Tonight Show.
03:00It's just kind of about the unconditional love you might have
03:04for somebody regardless of the circumstances
03:06and we were kind of both going through a lot of the time.
03:09His most recent EP was Stone Man, released in 2021.
03:13As an actor, Overstreet starred in the 2020 Hulu comedy
03:17The Swing of Things and starred opposite Lindsay Lohan
03:20in the 2022 holiday romance Falling for Christmas.
03:24Since 2021, he has appeared on the Apple TV Plus series
03:27Acapulco, demonstrating that he definitely
03:30hasn't lost his comedic skills.
03:42Number 7, Amber Riley, Mercedes Jones.
03:46During her time on Glee, Riley was known
03:49for her powerful voice, often heard belting out
03:51the impressive final notes of big group numbers.
03:54Burning, rolling, rolling, rolling, rolling, rolling on a river, rolling on a river, rolling on a river.
04:01One of her strongest solos on Glee was the song
04:04And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going from Dreamgirls.
04:08London-based Gleeks were lucky enough
04:10to see Riley performing this song live
04:12when she debuted the role of Effie White on the West End in 2016.
04:16I'm not living with them.
04:21I don't want to be free
04:23Her show-stopping performance earned her a Laurence Olivier Award,
04:28an Evening Standard Theater Award, and a What's On Stage Award.
04:32In 2022, Riley became the winner of Season 8 of The Masked Singer, competing as Harp.
04:38Well, dream of ways to throw it all away.
04:49Riley has teased her debut album since February of 2023,
04:54but it appears to still be in production with no set release date.
04:58Number 6, Darren Criss, Blaine Anderson.
05:01Before his time on Glee made him a bona fide celebrity,
05:04Chris already had a cult following for his work with Star Kid Productions.
05:20Anyone could tell he was destined for stardom.
05:23Post-Glee, Chris teamed up with Ryan Murphy again
05:26on the assassination of Gianni Versace, American Crime Story, in 2018.
05:38Chris's performance as Andrew Cunanan earned him both an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award.
05:44In 2020, Chris created, produced, and starred in the series Royalties
05:49for the short-lived streaming service Quibi.
05:51So far this decade, Chris seems devoted to the stage.
05:55In 2022, he appeared in the Broadway revival of American Buffalo,
06:00and is currently starring in the acclaimed South Korean musical
06:02Maybe Happy Ending on Broadway.
06:05With four days of rain behind us, the yellow sand conditions have cleared.
06:08So, leave that mask at home.
06:10It's the perfect day for outdoor activities.
06:13Number 5, Jenna Ushkowitz, Tina Cohen Chang.
06:16In a world full of people, you can lose sight of it
06:22All in darkness, still inside you, make you feel so small
06:27Jenna Ushkowitz already had a few Broadway credits under her belt
06:30before she was cast on Glee.
06:32So it's no surprise that she's returned to the stage since the show ended.
06:37She appeared as Dawn in Waitress,
06:39and performed with Broadway's The 24-Hour Plays, both in 2016.
06:43Her roles behind the scenes have been significant as well,
06:48earning her two Tony Awards for her part in producing a 2018 revival
06:52of Once on This Island, and the 2020 play The Inheritance.
06:57I lived with the soundtrack for so long that I'm excited to see it come to life.
07:00I'm just so excited for people to be refreshed by this.
07:04Since 2019, Ushkowitz has teamed up with fellow Glee star Kevin McHale,
07:09who played Artie, on their Glee rewatch podcast,
07:12and That's What You Really Missed.
07:14The podcast discusses all of their favorite memories
07:17and fun facts about their time on the show.
07:20The best arrangements of all of Glee were the Christmas albums.
07:23Yeah.
07:23All the Christmas songs were so good.
07:25Everyone just got to go crazy on there.
07:26Number four, Matthew Morrison, Will Schuster.
07:30Because you're all minorities, you're in the Glee club.
07:33After Glee, Morrison appeared on stage in the Broadway debut of Finding Neverland,
07:38and on screen in season nine of American Horror Story.
07:43But his 2020 role in NBC's Dr. Seuss's The Grinch musical Live garnered the most attention
07:48from former Gleeks.
07:50I'm one of a kind.
07:54And that's hard to find.
07:57His cheesy performance and intensely green makeup were peak meme fodder that holiday season.
08:02More recently, Morrison was a judge on So You Think You Can Dance in 2022,
08:08until he was dismissed from the show mid-season for allegedly sending inappropriate text messages
08:13to a contestant.
08:14Morrison denies the messages were inappropriate, but we'll leave that for you to judge.
08:19It's devastating that we live in this world where
08:21gossip rules and people's lives are being thrown around as clickbait.
08:26Most recently, Morrison played Billy Flynn in a Japanese production of Chicago in 2024.
08:31Number three, Lea Michele, Rachel Berry.
08:36Life imitated art in 2022, when Lea Michele took on the role of Fanny Bryce in Funny Girl
08:41on Broadway, just like her character Rachel Berry did in season five of Glee.
08:47Unsurprisingly, her performance was widely praised by critics, credited to her phenomenal
08:51singing voice.
08:52Don't tell me not to fly, I simply got to.
08:56If someone takes a spill, it's me and not you.
08:58Who told you you're allowed to rain on my parade?
09:03Off stage, several of Michelle's Glee co-stars have come forward in recent years to say that
09:08Michelle was particularly rude and difficult to work with on set, often acting like a prima
09:14donna.
09:14Michelle has also faced a bizarre internet rumor that she's illiterate.
09:19Not only do I have to memorize pages and pages, they said that Ryan Murphy would have to read
09:24the lines to me.
09:26Ryan called me, he's like, do people think that I have the time in my life to come and do this?
09:29Michelle vehemently denies this rumor, yet conspiracy theorists still won't let it go.
09:35The singer has also released four studio albums and has two children with husband Zandi Reich.
09:40Glee is back and she must be filled especially with holiday glee because she's a newlywed.
09:47Number two, Jane Lynch, Sue Sylvester.
09:55Jane Lynch's impeccable comedic timing turned brash coach Sylvester into one of Glee fans'
10:01most beloved characters from the series.
10:03And thankfully, she's continued to grace our screens with her talents post-Glee.
10:07You look thirsty.
10:08Can I get you something?
10:09This is my apartment.
10:11And no, I don't want anything.
10:12Then you can wait outside, Dawes.
10:14Glad to be back.
10:14Lynch has had significant roles in Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Space Force, and Only Murders
10:20in the Building, all showcasing her dry wit and hilarious character work.
10:25Lynch has also hosted several game shows, including the American version of The Weakest Link.
10:30The great American director of Blue Velvet and the great American actor who played Sue
10:34Sylvester on Glee, share what last name?
10:37Sloane.
10:38Lynch!
10:39Like Lea Michele, Lynch was cast in the Broadway revival of Funny Girl in the role of Rosie Brace,
10:45although the two never overlapped during their time with the show.
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11:03Number 1.
11:05Chris Colfer, Kurt Hummel.
11:07And if it wasn't for me, then where would you be, Miss Rachel Berry?
11:14You might have expected this talented performer to move on to a career on the stage or continuing
11:19his work in television, but Colfer surprised us the most with his post-Glee pursuits.
11:24Almost immediately following Glee, Colfer began to pursue his childhood dream of writing
11:30and has since published a whopping 20 books.
11:3320?
11:34It's what?
11:34I know.
11:35Crazy.
11:35Yeah.
11:36Crazy.
11:36It snuck up on me.
11:38Wow.
11:38Wow.
11:39His most popular books come from his The Land of Stories series, a best-selling children's
11:44fantasy series with six installments.
11:46Colfer has been working on a film adaptation of The Land of Stories, The Wishing Spell, since
11:512017, but the project has faced significant delays.
11:55And this came to you as a child, right?
11:56This concept.
11:58And your grandma was your first editor?
11:59She was.
12:00Yeah, I was about seven or eight when I first had the idea for the series.
12:02And I tried writing it then, but it was very difficult to write a novel
12:05because I was seven.
12:06So while no official dates have been announced, Colfer assured fans in 2024 that the project
12:11was still alive.
12:13So it's truly only a matter of time.
12:15Which cast members are you, Gleek, still wondering about?
12:19Let us know in the comments.
12:20Captain Robinson, the test.
12:21All right, but I don't think you'll pass.
12:23You missed almost the entire class.
12:24Oh, has human biology changed in the past three years?
12:26Start the clock.
12:27There's no clock.
12:28That's not how it works.
12:29Do you agree with our picks?
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