Get First Look At Glee cast Reuniting In Honor Of Naya Rivera Via EW

Get first look at Glee cast reuniting in honor of Naya Rivera via EW

Jenna Ushkowitz and Heather Morris share favorite memories of their late costar with EW ahead of GLAAD Media Awards tribute.

The Glee cast is reuniting to celebrate one of their own.

The cast will pay tribute to the late Naya Rivera in a special virtual reunion as part of the GLAAD Media Awards tomorrow, and EW has a sneak peek of the moment above. Ahead of the reunion airing, EW talked to original Glee clubbers Jenna Ushkowitz and Heather Morris about their memories of Rivera, who died in July.

2021 marks the tenth anniversary of Rivera's Glee character Santana coming out. As part of the tribute, the cast will celebrate that moment and spotlight the character's impact on LGBTQ teens and Latinx LGBTQ representation on television.

"It's something to celebrate," Ushkowitz tells EW of Rivera and Santana's lasting impact. "It's something that marked a lot of fans' lives and affected a lot of people in the fandom because of her bravery as a character and seeing themselves represented on TV. Glee was breaking barriers at the time. It's bittersweet because we miss her so much, and I feel like there was so much more she would have done if she was still around, but the fact that we're able to pay tribute and honor the work she did do, and the effect she did have on people's lives, it gives us something to celebrate as well in her remembrance."

Demi Lovato, who guest starred as Santana's girlfriend on the series, will introduce the tribute. In addition to Morris and Ushkowitz, it features cast members Jacob Artist, Chris Colfer, Darren Criss, Jessalyn Gilsig, Dot-Marie Jones, Vanessa Lengies, Jane Lynch, Kevin McHale, Matthew Morrison, Alex Newell, Lauren Potter, Amber Riley, Harry Shum Jr., and Becca Tobin.

April 7, 2021