Here's What The "Glee" Cast Is Up To, 10 Years Later
Hey, my name is Abby, and I have a confession: I'm a massive Gleek. I've watched Glee more times than I can count, and nothing fills me with more joy than listening to my "Glee songs that beat the original" playlist.
It's the best Glee playlist you'll ever find. Highly recommend downloading.
So when I recently discovered that it's been TEN YEARS since the final episode of Glee (which came out on March 20, 2015), I went into a full-blown spiral. Like, no wonder the world has been so dark in the last decade — it's because we're living in a Glee-less world.
Anyway, I know everyone isn't as caught up on all things Glee (like, not all of us stalk the entire cast religiously on a weekly basis)...so I thought I'd update everyone on what the cast looks like now, as well as what they've been up to. Because there are TONSSSS of updates you need to know about.
Just a note here before we begin: this list does not include Cory Monteith, Mark Salling, and Naya Rivera, as they have passed away.
Lea Michele played Rachel Berry on Glee. She was 28 when Glee ended, and now she's 38.
As we all probably know, Lea starred in the Broadway revival of Funny Girl in 2022...but you might not know that she's about to return to Broadway this coming year! She's starring in the first revival of Chess alongside Aaron Tveit (a freaking legend, by the way, who I may or may not be in love with). Lea also has two kids with her husband Zandy Reich.
Matthew Morrison played Will Schuester on Glee. He was 36 when the show ended, and he's now 46.
Matthew has two kids with his wife, Renee Puente. In 2020, he notoriously starred as the Grinch in Dr. Seuss' The Grinch Musical Live!, and he was (briefly) a judge on So You Think You Can Dance in 2022. He starred in Hallmark romance A Paris Christmas Waltz in 2023. Matthew is about to begin performing at Café Carlyle in New York City.
Dianna Agron played Quinn Fabray on Glee. She was 29 when the show ended, and she's now 39.
Dianna has been in a few films since Glee ended, primarily independent films. You might have seen her in Shiva Baby (2020), As They Made Us (2022), Clock (2023) as well as Season 1 of The Chosen One in 2023. My editor also gave me specific instructions to mention her starring in "gay nun movie" Novitiate in 2017, which is nothing short of legendary. She sings at the Café Carlyle in New York City, too.
Darren Criss played Blaine Anderson on Glee. He was 28 when Glee ended, and he's now 38.
Darren is the latest Glee Tony Award winner! He won his very first Tony for Best Lead Actor in a Musical for Maybe Happy Ending in 2025 (which had me screaming and crying). But before that, he got a Golden Globe, Emmy, and SAG Award for his role in the 2018 series The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story. Plus, he's a dad now — he's got two kids with his wife, Mia Swier.
Jonathan Groff played Jessie St. James on Glee. He was 30 when the show ended, and he's now 40.
Speaking of Tony winners…in 2024, Jonathan won his first Tony for Best Lead Actor in a Musical for the revival of Merrily We Roll Along — yes, the same award Darren just won! He was also nominated (against Darren) this year for playing Bobby Darin in Just In Time, a show he's still starring in. He was also in Hamilton, Mindhunter, Frozen 2…and many, many more.
Jane Lynch played Sue Sylvester on Glee. She was 54 when Glee ended, and she's now 64.
Jane has been in several shows since Glee, including The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (which won her an Emmy in 2019), Velma, and Only Murders in the Building. She also hosted two game shows: Hollywood Game Night and Weakest Link; she's still hosting the latter. And bonus: Jane was in the same Broadway production of Funny Girl as Lea Michele, but she exited the show in 2022, before Lea started.
Chris Colfer played Kurt Hummel on Glee. He was 25 when the show ended, and he's now 35.
Chris Colfer isn't really acting anymore — he's a children's book author now! Not too long after Glee, he wrote a six-book series called The Land of Stories, and he's now in the middle of writing another series. The first book is called Roswell Johnson Saves the World! and it came out in 2024.
Amber Riley played Mercedes Jones on Glee. She was 29 when Glee ended, and she's 39 now.
Amber is a singer (duh), and goes by her stage name RILEY; her EP came out in 2020. Shortly after Glee, she played the first Effie in the London West End show Dreamgirls The Musical. She won The Masked Singer in 2022, and she also starred in the 2022 horror film Single Black Female, which got a sequel in 2024. The third Single Black Female movie comes out later in 2025.
Kevin McHale played Artie Abrams on Glee. He was 26 when the show ended, and he's now 36.
Kevin has had a range of projects since Glee: he hosted the show Virtually Famous from 2014–2016; competed in The X Factor: Celebrity in 2019 and RuPaul's Secret Celebrity Drag Race in 2022; and released an EP called Boy in 2019. But more recently, he's known for hosting (my favourite) podcast, And That's What You REALLY Missed, a Glee recap podcast with Jenna Ushkowitz, who played Tina. And speaking of Jenna…
Jenna Ushkowitz played Tina Cohen-Chang on Glee. She was 29 when the show ended, and she's now 39.
Now we're all aware Jenna hosts And That's What You REALLY Missed with Kevin McHale. But you might not know that Jenna has TWO Tony Awards (!!!) for producing Once on This Island in 2018 and The Inheritance in 2020. Jenna has also been in a couple shows and movies post-Glee, including Hello Again (2017), 1 Night in San Diego (2020), and Yellow Fever (2017). She appeared in the TV show Unconventional, which premiered in 2022. And can't forget, Jenna now has two kids with her husband David Stanley!
Heather Morris played Britney S. Pierce on Glee. She was 28 when Glee ended, and she's 38 now.
Heather continued with comedy shortly after Glee on the TV shows Comedy Bang! Bang! and Whose Line Is It Anyway?. She later competed on Dancing With The Stars in 2017 and won The Masked Dancer in 2022. Most recently, she was in Season 2 of the TV show So Help Me Todd in 2024, as well as Santa Fake in 2019 and Cora Bora in 2023. And she's a mom to two kids with her husband Taylor Hubbell.
Jayma Mays played Emma Pillsbury on Glee. She was 35 when Glee ended, and she's now 45.
Like many of the former Glee stars, Jayma has been acting since the show. Some of her notable projects include American Made (2017), Disenchanted (2022), and voice acting in The Adventures of Puss in Boots and Smurfs: The Lost Village. Plus, we've got another Glee mom here — she has a son with her husband Adam Campbell.
Chord Overstreet played Sam Evans on Glee. He was 26 when the show ended, and he's now 36.
You probably know Chord's song "Hold On" — it came out in 2017 and went TikTok viral in 2020. Since then, he's been releasing folk/singer-songwriter songs (and they're all bangers, I'll add). He starred opposite Lindsay Lohan in the 2022 romance movie Falling for Christmas, and he's also been in the show Acapulco since the pilot in 2021.
Harry Shum Jr. played Mike Chang on Glee. He was 33 when the show ended, and he's 43 now.
Harry has been super successful in Hollywood post-Glee, which we absolutely LOVE to see. We all know he was in Crazy Rich Asians in 2018, but he's also starred in All My Life (2020), Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022), and the Shadowhunters TV show from 2016–2019. Plus, he just wrapped up his third season starring in Grey's Anatomy. And how could I forget: Harry has a daughter with his wife Shelby Rabara.
Dot-Marie Jones played Sheldon Bieste on Glee. She was 51 when the show ended, and she's 61 now.
Dot-Marie has been acting a ton since playing Bieste! She was in multiple seasons of American Horror Story, and she appeared in The Resident and Modern Family toward the end of the 2010s. She's also been in several movies since Glee, including Rag Doll (2019), Greener Grass (2019), Golden Arm (2020), and Bar Fight! (2022).
Alex Newell played Wade "Unique" Adams on Glee. They were 22 when Glee ended, and they're now 32.
Alex is our next Tony-winning Glee cast member, having won their first Tony Award in 2023 for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for Shucked. (Yes, that means Glee cast members have won Tonys for three years in a row!!) They were also in the Broadway revival of Once on This Island in 2018, and the (incredible) TV show Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist from 2020–2021. Annnnd lastly, you might've recognized Alex in Another Simple Favor alongside Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick.
Melissa Benoist played Marley Rose on Glee. She was 26 when Glee ended, and she's 36 now.
Melissa is best known for playing the titular character in Supergirl, which ran from 2015–2021. But aside from that, she's been in a TON of other movies and shows — notably, the first and only season of The Girls on the Bus (2024), Patriots Day (2016), and Billy Boy (2017). And she stars in the first season of The Waterfront, premiering on Netflix in late June 2025. Melissa is a mom to one son with her husband Chris Wood.
Jacob Artist played Jake Puckerman on Glee. He was 22 when the show ended, and he's now 32.
The same year Glee ended, Jacob starred in Quantico. He was in the first two seasons, from 2015–2016, and the following year, he was in the crime-thriller Blood Money. Since then, he was in Now Apocalypse (2019) and Haunting on Fraternity Row (2018), among others. In 2024, he came out with his first single called "BEFORE."
Becca Tobin played Kitty Wilde on Glee. She was 29 when the show ended, and she's now 39.
Becca has co-hosted the podcast The Lady Gang since 2015, which has been hugely successful — it was turned into a series on E! in 2018 for one season. And she's still acting, too; she starred in the Hallmark movie Love at First Dance in 2018, A Song For Christmas in 2017, and The Wedding Contract in 2023.
Who's your favourite Glee cast member? Whose glow-up shocked you the most? Tell me in the comments below! Let's Gleek out together!!!
And check out BuzzFeed Canada on Instagram and TikTok for more celeb content!
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NEW YORK -- It's sung every summer in baseball stadiums around the United States. But the impact of 'Take Me Out to the Ball Game' goes much further than simply getting fans out of their seats for the 7th-inning stretch. More than a century after Jack Norworth penned the lyrics, a nonprofit founded with the song's royalties is celebrating 50 years of supporting young musicians — including the talent behind some of today's most popular musicals. The ASCAP Foundation, the charitable arm for the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, was established in 1975 after Norworth's estate left a bequest of the licensing payments for baseball's unofficial anthem and his other hits. 'Just as all music begins with a song, the ASCAP Foundation began with a song,' said Paul Williams, the group's president and a composer-lyricist whose award-winning career includes 'Rainbow Connection.' The organization provides money, lessons and mentorship at all career stages in an industry where that support is badly needed by artists who often toil for years working other gigs while trying to get their music before the right ears. To reach its semicentennial, however, the foundation has had to identify new funding streams and reinvent programming. 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame,' written in 1908, has since entered the public domain and no longer generates revenue. The foundation nowadays relies on a mix of philanthropies, corporate sponsors and general public donations. The Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation is a longtime backer and storied New York law firm Paul Weiss is another sponsor. And, according to Williams, 'there's not a lot of stingy songwriters out there.' The late Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, as well as Herb Alpert, are among those with named scholarships and awards. Williams said other bequests, which are charitable gifts left through a will, have come from 'Hello, Dolly!' composer-lyricist Jerry Herman and 'Tea for Two' lyricist Irving Ceasar. 'It's really a way of making a mark on the world and extending their values forward,' fundraising coach Claire Axelrad said of bequests, which she added have consistently made up about one-tenth of charitable gifts. With dwindling arts funding and millions of children reportedly going without music education, the ASCAP Foundation is also trying to reach underserved communities. Leaders count nearly 60,000 K-12 students who participated in last year's programs. They help teach guitar to New York summer campers and bring students to free Broadway-caliber productions. Youth are learning to play the djembe, a drum originally from West Africa, through a collaboration with urban farming nonprofit Harlem Grown. Tax filings show the foundation gave away more than $325,000 in grants for scholarships, fellowships and cash awards in 2023. Award-winning songwriter Emily Bear, who co-wrote the soundtrack for Disney's 'Moana 2,' said the foundation took her 'very seriously" when she was a five-year-old prodigy receiving its young composer award. 'That kind of validation at that kind of age means so much when you're just a little girl with very big dreams and you're in a room full of people that you idolize," she said. Composer Stephen Schwartz, who was honored this week with the ASCAP Foundation Champion Award during a June 10 fundraiser at Tony winner Adam Guettel's Manhattan home, said the nonprofit is filling gaps as the government 'supports the arts less and less.' This April also marked the third year that Schwartz has hosted the foundation's two-day Musical Theatre Fest in Los Angeles. The location allows participants to get feedback from prominent guests and connect with Hollywood studios — one way the foundation is trying to stay relevant by serving the renewed interest in musicals for television and film screens. It's emblematic of the mentorship younger composers say Schwartz — a Broadway icon whose hits include 'Godspell,' 'Pippin' and 'Wicked' — has offered to emerging artists over the years. Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the songwriting duo behind 'Dear Evan Hansen,' credited the ASCAP Foundation for 'cementing' their connection with Schwartz. Pasek said such close proximity to a hero, who then became a "living, breathing person who gives you advice,' made the profession 'more plausible.' 'Typically, you're working on projects on a wing and a prayer and hoping that someday it reaches the stage,' Paul said. "So, an organization like the ASCAP Foundation breathing life into not just your work, but your pocketbooks, is a huge, huge support.' Schwartz said it was 'scary and bewildering' when he first started out without any connections. He sees an important role for himself as someone who can 'ease the way a bit' to help newcomers' 'talents flourish earlier and more completely.' There's also another motivation. 'It's slightly selfish because I get to see good work and enjoy it,' Schwartz added. ___
The Hill
5 hours ago
- The Hill
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NEW YORK (AP) — It's sung every summer in baseball stadiums around the United States. But the impact of 'Take Me Out to the Ball Game' goes much further than simply getting fans out of their seats for the 7th-inning stretch. More than a century after Jack Norworth penned the lyrics, a nonprofit founded with the song's royalties is celebrating 50 years of supporting young musicians — including the talent behind some of today's most popular musicals. The ASCAP Foundation, the charitable arm for the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, was established in 1975 after Norworth's estate left a bequest of the licensing payments for baseball's unofficial anthem and his other hits. 'Just as all music begins with a song, the ASCAP Foundation began with a song,' said Paul Williams, the group's president and a composer-lyricist whose award-winning career includes 'Rainbow Connection.' The organization provides money, lessons and mentorship at all career stages in an industry where that support is badly needed by artists who often toil for years working other gigs while trying to get their music before the right ears. To reach its semicentennial, however, the foundation has had to identify new funding streams and reinvent programming. 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame,' written in 1908, has since entered the public domain and no longer generates revenue. The foundation nowadays relies on a mix of philanthropies, corporate sponsors and general public donations. The Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation is a longtime backer and storied New York law firm Paul Weiss is another sponsor. And, according to Williams, 'there's not a lot of stingy songwriters out there.' The late Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, as well as Herb Alpert, are among those with named scholarships and awards. Williams said other bequests, which are charitable gifts left through a will, have come from 'Hello, Dolly!' composer-lyricist Jerry Herman and 'Tea for Two' lyricist Irving Ceasar. 'It's really a way of making a mark on the world and extending their values forward,' fundraising coach Claire Axelrad said of bequests, which she added have consistently made up about one-tenth of charitable gifts. With dwindling arts funding and millions of children reportedly going without music education, the ASCAP Foundation is also trying to reach underserved communities. Leaders count nearly 60,000 K-12 students who participated in last year's programs. They help teach guitar to New York summer campers and bring students to free Broadway-caliber productions. Youth are learning to play the djembe, a drum originally from West Africa, through a collaboration with urban farming nonprofit Harlem Grown. Tax filings show the foundation gave away more than $325,000 in grants for scholarships, fellowships and cash awards in 2023. Award-winning songwriter Emily Bear, who co-wrote the soundtrack for Disney's 'Moana 2,' said the foundation took her 'very seriously' when she was a five-year-old prodigy receiving its young composer award. 'That kind of validation at that kind of age means so much when you're just a little girl with very big dreams and you're in a room full of people that you idolize,' she said. Composer Stephen Schwartz, who was honored this week with the ASCAP Foundation Champion Award during a June 10 fundraiser at Tony winner Adam Guettel's Manhattan home, said the nonprofit is filling gaps as the government 'supports the arts less and less.' This April also marked the third year that Schwartz has hosted the foundation's two-day Musical Theatre Fest in Los Angeles. The location allows participants to get feedback from prominent guests and connect with Hollywood studios — one way the foundation is trying to stay relevant by serving the renewed interest in musicals for television and film screens. It's emblematic of the mentorship younger composers say Schwartz — a Broadway icon whose hits include 'Godspell,' 'Pippin' and 'Wicked' — has offered to emerging artists over the years. Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the songwriting duo behind 'Dear Evan Hansen,' credited the ASCAP Foundation for 'cementing' their connection with Schwartz. Pasek said such close proximity to a hero, who then became a 'living, breathing person who gives you advice,' made the profession 'more plausible.' 'Typically, you're working on projects on a wing and a prayer and hoping that someday it reaches the stage,' Paul said. 'So, an organization like the ASCAP Foundation breathing life into not just your work, but your pocketbooks, is a huge, huge support.' Schwartz said it was 'scary and bewildering' when he first started out without any connections. He sees an important role for himself as someone who can 'ease the way a bit' to help newcomers' 'talents flourish earlier and more completely.' There's also another motivation. 'It's slightly selfish because I get to see good work and enjoy it,' Schwartz added. ___ Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and non-profits receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP's philanthropy coverage, visit
