Irish Glee star Damian McGinty has hit out at ‘Glee curse’ theory as he remembered his late co-stars Naya Rivera and Cory Monteith ahead of their anniversaries.
Rivera, who played Santana Lopez on the musical show, disappeared July 8 2020 while boating with her 4-year-old son on Lake Piru in California.
Her body was found after an extensive search on July 13, exactly seven years after her co-star Monteith died of a drug overdose.
Derry born singer and actor, Damian, who starred alongside the late stars as a young, up and coming teen star said it’s hurtful to see people reduce their tragic deaths to ‘a curse’ - saying: “I knew these people, I knew them as human beings.”
The 28-year-old, who starred as Irish exchange student Rory Flanagan in the show, told Irish Daily Mirror: “It can be quite uncomfortable when you sort of reflect on it..
"I knew these people, I knew them as human beings, the rest of the world know them as characters on a TV show.
“But I knew them behind those characters and it is incredibly sad.”
“Glee” has been plagued by numerous tragedies and traumas, including the 2018 suicide of Mark Salling, who starred as Noah “Puck” Puckerman.
His death came two months after pleading guilty to possessing child pornography.
The show’s assistant director Jim Fuller died in his sleep of suspected heart failure in 2013, and production assistant Nancy Motes, sister of Julia Roberts, died by suicide the following year.
“It’s also, there’s always these things that go around about the Glee cast, because of just how it has played out for a lot of them,” the US based singer said.
“And ah look at the curse on the Glee cast, and whatever it might be, there are so many of those things that fly around.
“But I am like, guys these are real people, real life human beings, that unfortunately lost their lives.
“It’s incredibly sad, and just real tragedies that can never be forgotten or recovered. Great People.”
He added: “Cory was one of my favourite guys, I worked my whole first week with him and he was truly one of nicest guys, and Naya, had so much flair and talent.
“It is really sad.”
It’s been ten years since he won the Glee Project, and found himself working side by side with some of the biggest names in the business.
With the cult favourite show popping up in his life someway or another every day since, he said he struggles to see it as a decade gone by - as it is still very much a part of his life.
But having landed to LA from his hometown in Derry as a fresh faced 18-year-old boy, he said he is grateful he managed to come out the other side unscathed.
McGinty, who first shot to stardom aged 14, with the world renowned group Celtic Thunder, said: “It was a great experience and you learn a lot from it.
“That can also be defining.
“That type of fame at that age, sadly that can be fatal. And it is proven time and time again.
“So I think it is important to kind of sit back and be like, gained a lot of lessons from that, and learned a lot of mistakes.
“There were definitely times, I've never been somebody to get carried away or lose myself, but there was definitely a period of time where I was a less version of who I am.
“Because how can you not be when you are 18/19-years-old and you are thrust into parties in the Hollywood Hills and all this paparazzi. It’s just a different planet, and as human beings, you are just not programmed to deal with that very well.”
“I was fortunate that I learned a lot of the experience and came out the other side for much the better. But that doesn’t happen for everyone unfortunately.
“It can be a tough world, and an unforgiving world.”
The singer, who is back with new music, with a seven-track EP titled Those Were The Days credited his parents for raising him not to get side tracked by the hustle and bustle of Tinseltown.
“I was very fortunate to be raised by good parents and that's something that can’t be underrated.
“They are the reason I feel like I have clarity on things and was able to make the right choices and decisions. And there are moments when it is easy to make a wrong one.”
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