Cory Monteith's friend still finds his death "confusing" 10 years later (2024)

A close friend and former roommate of Glee star Cory Monteith still finds his death "very confusing."

Ten years ago, on July 13, 2013, Monteith's body was found in a hotel room in Vancouver, Canada. An autopsy found that he had overdosed on a mix of heroin and alcohol, just months after he had been to rehab.

He was 31 years old and his death was met with widespread mourning among fans of his and the show Glee. Monteith's death was addressed on Glee in the Season 5 episode "The Quarterback," which dealt with the death of his character Finn Hudson.

Monteith's death was the core subject of the documentary series The Price of Glee, which featured testimonials and accounts from friends of Monteith's and crew members from the show.

Reflecting on the 10th anniversary of Monteith's death, Newsweek reached out to his close friend Justin Neill, who reflected on the past decade without Monteith.

"It feels like two lifetimes ago, and sometimes it feels like yesterday," Neill, a former actor and the first roommate Monteith had when he moved to Los Angeles, told Newsweek.

"I just completely remember that night that I got the call. Just how confusing and how fast it was all going. It's still very confusing, because so much was coming at me all at once," he said. "I got the call that he passed away and I was one of the first in California to know, maybe Lea [Michele] (Monteith's girlfriend) but within 45 minutes my text and Twitter started exploding and it didn't stop for months."

He added that while he was trying to come to terms with his friend's death, he was overwhelmed by journalists contacting him, as well as photographers parked up outside his house trying to ask him questions.

The Price of Glee detailed Monteith's lifelong battle with addiction and substance abuse. Monteith had completed almost a month in a rehab facility in April 2013, but less than three months later he was dead.

Neill, now a Director of Customer Success at the Los Angeles-based tech company OneOf, told Newsweek that he still finds Monteith's death shocking because of how great he seemed in the days leading up to it.

"He would go off the radar and I'd be worried about him then he would come back and say how everything is going so well," Neill said. "I was checking in with him and checking in with his close friend in Canada and, by all accounts, they felt like he was positive and doing well."

"Anybody who's going through a situation where their family member's on drugs or just addicts in general, just my heart goes out to them because you don't know what's going on," he said.

Neill choked up as he was speaking, before adding: "It's just very dark and you don't know what's going on and in your head you're building out the worst possible situations and they come to you and say 'everything's fine' but you just know that it's not fine."

Neill said Monteith was good at putting on a front when in reality he was struggling with addiction again.

"Addicts are very manipulative and smart, but he had me thinking everything was alright, but then he got off the radar," he said.

As The Price of Glee aired in January 2023, details of Monteith's addiction were revealed and, despite showing him in a positive light, Neill warned that Monteith's mother should avoid the show.

"She and I had talked and that we wanted somebody close to him to be a part of the documentary, but I told her 'don't watch it.' It's hard for her at this time of her life to re-live any part of what happened, and she told me that. As a parent, you don't want to re-live that. Even though the things said were complimentary, I don't think a parent needs to re-live any of that," Neill said.

In Monteith's short career onscreen, he made dozens of appearances in movies and TV shows, racking up a number of award wins and nominations. While he made his name in front of the camera, Neill thinks, given the opportunity, Monteith would have continued his work behind the camera.

"He really wanted to direct. I don't think he'd live in L.A., he'd probably be up in Canada. At first L.A. was cool for him but then it just got way too much," Neill said after being asked to predict what Monteith would have done over the last decade if we were still alive.

"He was so artistic. He'd be directing a lot of independent stuff, he just understood storytelling," he said.

Tributes for Monteith have started pouring in ahead of the 10th anniversary of his passing. Across Twitter people shared their reactions, favorite pictures, jokes and memes relating to Monteith, while one user @HeartofTabogen shared a picture of the tattoo she got for both Monteith and fellow Glee cast member Naya Rivera, who drowned in 2020.

The outpouring of love is just a small example of the impact Monteith had on those around him, as Neill can attest.

"I would say he definitely changed the direction my life in several ways. I don't even know where I would be if I didn't meet Cory. I owe a lot to him," he said.

The three-part documentary series The Price of Glee is available to watch on discovery+ now.