Melissa Barrera Would Star in the 'Glee' Reboot: Here's What We Know
Gleeks, this is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill. If you’ve found yourself yearning for the halls of McKinley High, have no fear: the hit show is coming back!
Questions have been lingering for weeks over the potential of a reboot, with original showrunner Ryan Murphy recently revealing that he wrote a script for it — and now, Disney+ and Hulu have confirmed that it is definitely happening.
For the uninitiated, Glee is a musical dramedy that follows the lives and loves of members of high school show choir New Directions, though in its later seasons, it continued to follow some of its most beloved characters post-graduation as they navigated the adult world. At the time, it was a worldwide phenomenon, and since it ended in 2015, things just haven’t felt the same.
Details on the new show have been scarce (more on that later), but in an exclusive chat with JustWatch, one actor made it clear that they are definitely down for a role in the reboot,
Melissa Barrera Wants to be in Glee
In an interview with JustWatch, the 36-year-old made a compelling pitch about why she’s right for the Glee reboot — arguing that it’s definitely not too late to play a high schooler.
“A movie that like automatically puts me in a good mood is Grease,” she explained. “Even though I just did a movie with John Travolta and I realised that he was actually at the time of shooting that movie, he was 23, but Olivia Newton-John was like 30, and I love the idea of like 30-somethings playing high-schoolers.”
She continued, “And I wanna get back to that. I love that. I feel like there should be more of that; cast me as a high schooler in a musical. I know there’s a Glee reboot coming. What if we’re all 35, playing high schoolers? I think there’s comedy in that and camp and I love it and I just, you know, you look at those high schoolers in Grease and you’re like ‘No these people are 40, you know?’”
To be fair, if Melissa Barrera ended up in Glee, she would absolutely slay. She previously played Vanessa in Lin Manuel-Miranda’s movie adaptation of In The Heights, and was genuinely, in my opinion, a highlight of the film. She’s also got a knack for comedy, as seen by her role in Your Monster, so if you think about it, she’d be a perfect fit.
What We Know About the Glee Reboot
As mentioned, Ryan Murphy already has made progress on the reboot. "We have a script," he told Entertainment Tonight in September. “Brad, Ian and I, who wrote all the first two seasons, have written something.”
In even better news, Murphy added that he had already consulted with the OG cast about the project. "I've been in touch with around ten of the original cast members," he revealed. “It's very sweet, and they all had a lot of questions, but they all were very enthusiastic about the idea.”
As it stands, one original cast member, Lea Michele, has been confirmed to reprise her role as Rachel Berry. But, if Murphy’s revelation is anything to go by, she might not be alone.
Other Glee actors have also given their thoughts on a potential reboot.
Earlier in October, Chris Colfer, who played Kurt Hummel in the show, told Bustle: “I know nothing and have heard absolutely nothing.
“I wish I did. It was a really tough show to do, and it would be really hard to do it now that Naya [Rivera] is gone. But I do know that Glee fans would probably come after me with pitchforks and jazz hands if I said no.”
Notably, Colfer recently reunited with Darren Criss, his on-screen husband from the show, on-stage during one of Criss’ concerts — and call me delulu, but I consider that a sign.
Elsewhere, Jenna Ushkowitz, who played Tina Cohen-Chang in the show, previously told E! News in 2022: "If Ryan was doing it and the right people were involved, I'd consider it."
Many have told us to stop believing in a Glee reboot. But as this news demonstrates, never stopping has its perks.
