This news should really come as no surprise. Let’s be honest here fans: Matthew Morrison is severely underused in Glee. While the series once revolved around him in the beginning as the main character struggling not only with his personal life, but trying to succeed in his dream of helming a Glee club, the character Will Schuester has very much gone downhill, playing second-fiddle to all the romance teen drama and only needed to segue into musical numbers. However, Morrison has never voiced his disdain…until now.
Over at The Mirror, Morrison reportedly told them the following about his seven year contract with the series:
“It’s not ending any time soon. Once they have you, they trap you. I’m tied in to seven years – I signed up to seven years and I cannot get out of it. I have a really good lawyer but there’s nothing we can do – I’ve had offers recently for a few really cool movies but had to turn them down. It’s so frustrating. None of us realised when we signed up it’d turn into this – we thought it was just a show about kids singing and dancing. But I’ve done three years now, so I have another four to go – I literally cannot get out of it. It’s a great show, it provided me with my big break, but what can I do? Urrrgh.”
And honestly, I don’t blame him. How would you feel if you feel like one of the most important pieces of the show one moment, and then only used in a main storytelling perspective every 1/5th a season the next?
It’s no secret that while Schue has been used a bit more since the new year rung in, such as the proposal episode, Ricky Martin’s episode, and more, the majority of his storyline has been played offscreen this year. And it’s disappointing to see that heart and emotion from Schue’s perspective that made us fall in love with the series now dwindled down to Morrison simply as a poster boy in commercials and promos, serving a less important and less focused role on-screen.
Then again, Morrison does sound like he’s being a bit selfish here. While it’s unclear just how much he’s getting paid, he’s at one of the top series on television, instantly on iTunes in any music he does the day of the episode, and has a strong loyal fanbase surrounding his career on the show that ultimately gave him his big break. There are many TV stars that have to turn down films due to their series, and while you don’t want to be known as “that guy from Glee“, you should still have respect for where you’ve come from, no matter how bad the quality of the series has become.
While plans are being made for the series’ fourth season already, it’s clear that Morrison is very much involved in them. But, this rare peek behind the curtain definitely lets us see not everything is all rainbows and smiles in Glee-land as we might think. We saw this last summer with the whole spin-off controversy, and co-creator/EP Ryan Murphy has been critically under fire for how many recent projects he’s taken on, such asAmerican Horror Story, multiple films, a new NBC television series, and god knows what else.
But, will Morrison’s comments add to the backstage woes we’ve only seen in small spurts before, or will he eventually get his wish? Furthermore, do you think Morrison, who is currently on one of the top TV series in the world, is being selfish?
