It's been almost nine years since "Glee" went off the air, but there's still more to know about the behind-the-scenes story of the beloved musical comedy series. Amber Riley (Mercedes Jones) kicked off the Feb. 28 episode of Kevin McHale and Jenna Ushkowitz’s “This Is What You’re Really Missing ” podcast, and she didn’t disappoint . Her main revelation was that she refused to film scenes with Sarcedes that would have changed the course of the couple's relationship.
Say no to it
Her character, Mercedes, first became romantically entangled with Sam (Corder Overstreet) in season 2, and while they were on-again, off-again, it seemed like there was always a chance they'd get back together. A big sticking point is their differing views on premarital sex. Mercedes wants to wait while Sam is ready to take things to the next level.
It turns out that Riley and "Glee " co-creator Brad Falchuk also had disagreements about the couple's life paths. Riley shared in This Is What You're Really Missing that the writers wrote a scene in which Mercedes loses her virginity to Sam, but she refused to film it.
"[Falchuk] gave me the blue pages or something. It was written down," she recalled of the incident. "I said no."
stand your ground
Riley described the script as "a coming-of-age scene," and Falchuk seemed to think that on-screen intimacy might be something she cared about. He offers a milder alternative. "He said, 'Well, what if we, you know, let you walk into the room holding hands and close the door?'" she told McHale and Ushkowitz.
For Riley, it's still a no. "I was like, 'No, I'm not going to do that,'" she said. She framed her point with the fact that she doesn't usually "fight about anything," which she said would be "really awkward" and out of character for Mercedes. With her own background as a "church girl," Riley didn't believe Mercedes would go against her beliefs at the time, so the decision to lose her virginity was "forced."
"I feel like the message this sends to young girls is incorrect," she added.
protect actors
Her story resonated with McHale, who felt they both tried to get their characters right when they were cast on the show. "We all tried our best to protect our characters," he said. "We all think about all these seemingly trivial things, like, really deep... because each of us represents some kind of marginalized group, we all need to make sure we do it with the best intention. "
That's probably why Glee and their characters still mean so much to so many people.
