Naya Rivera will be the focus of a special tribute at this year’s GLAAD Media Awards…
Gleecast members Jacob Artist, Chris Colfer, Darren Criss, Vanessa Lengies, Jane Lynch, Kevin McHale, Heather Morris, Matthew Morrison, Alex Newell, Amber Riley, Harry Shum Jr., Becca Tobin, and Jenna Ushkowitz will reunite at the virtual edition of the awards show on April 8 for a special tribute to the legacy of the Santana Lopez, the character portrayed by the late half-Puerto Rican actress/singer and Glee star, who drowned last July while on an outing with her son on California’s Lake Piru.
The tribute will honor the 10-year anniversary of Santana’s coming out as lesbian in the musical comedy. Glee is a GLAAD Media Award winning series and the reunion will spotlight Santana’s impact on LGBTQ teens and Latinx LGBTQ representation on television. Demi Lovato, who played Santana’s girlfriend on Glee, will introduce the special tribute.
The GLAAD Media Awards will be hosted by Niecy Nash and stream on YouTube on April 8 at 8:00 pm ET. The event will also stream on Hulu on April 8 starting at 10:00 pm ET, and will be available to stream on-demand on the streamer until the end of June.
The late part-Puerto Rican actress and Glee star used the last of her strength to save her 4-year-old son before she died, Ventura County Sheriff Bill Ayub said Monday.
“She mustered enough energy to get her son back onto the boat, but not enough to save herself,” he said.
A body discovered Monday morning at Lake Piru has been identified as the Rivera, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office said during a news conference.
Riveraand her son rented a pontoon boat at Lake Piru Wednesday. The child told rescuers he and his mother had gone into the water to swim, but she didn’t get back on the boat. He told investigators he then looked back and saw her disappear under the surface of the water, Ayub said.
Her son was found asleep on the rental pontoon boat after it was overdue for return. One life jacket was found on the boat and the boy was wearing another.
Her body was found floating in the northeast area of the lake where the water is between 35 and 60 feet deep Monday, after a six-day search. Ayub said investigators are “confident” the body found was Rivera, but the body is still being taken to Ventura County Coroner’s Office, where it will be identified through dental records.
Ayub said the sheriff’s department has been “in direct contact” with Rivera’s family.
“Her family has been at the lake everyday holding out hope and communicating with our investigators,” Ayub said.
The actress is best known for her role as Santana Lopez on Fox’s musical dramedy Glee. She appeared in nearly every episode of the beloved musical-comedy-drama, which ended in 2015.
Members of the show’s cast took to social media to mourn their costar, sharing their condolences to Rivera’s family.
“How can you convey all your love and respect for someone in one post?” Chris Colfer, who played Kurt on Glee, wrote on his Instagramin a lengthy, emotional caption of a picture of him and Rivera. “How can you summarize a decade of friendship and laughter with words alone? If you were friends with Naya Rivera, you simply can’t.”
“Rest sweet, Naya,” Jane Lynch, who played Coach Sue Sylvester on the show, tweeted. “What a force you were. Love and peace to your family.
Rivera was also on the CBS sitcom The Royal Family and in the comedy film The Master of Disguise. More recently, she starred in the Step Up television series, based on the movie franchise.
The Mexican actor will star in CBS’ family cop drama pilot from Bull co-creator Paul Attanasio, Blue Bloods executive producer Leonard Goldberg and co-EP/director David Barrett, and executive producer/director Rodrigo Garcia.
The plot of the CBS Television Studios-produced project centers on the multi-generational members of a Mexican-American family with deep roots in San Diego who intertwine personally and professionally due to their powerful careers in law enforcement.
Aguire will play Gustavo “Tavo” Medina, the middle child and undisputed “brain” of the Medina family who is a computer and technology expert with the San Diego Police Department.
It looks like Lea Michele’s heading back to the beginning…
The 27-year-old part-Spanish actress and Glee star will be returning to Ohio for the Fox musical dramedy’s sixth and final season.
The truncated season will revolve around Michele’s character Rachel Berry, who returns to Lima after a “humiliating failure” as a television actress.
The former New Directions star will head back home to figure out what she wants to do next and, after discovering that Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) has disbanded the glee club, undertakes the task of reinstating and leading the group that helped launch her career.
Meanwhile, Blaine (Darren Criss), Sam (Chord Overstreet) and Will (Matthew Morrison) have all found new and surprising gigs in Ohio.
Fox notes that other McKinley High alums will also return for Glee‘s final run.
Michele, Criss, Overstreet, Lynch and Morrison will all return as series regulars and be joined by Chris Colfer (Kurt), Dot-Marie Jones (Coach Beiste), Kevin McHale (Artie) and Amber Riley (Mercedes).
Co-creator Ryan Murphy told The Hollywood Reporter at the Emmys on Monday that he doesn’t currently know what the final scene of the series will be. “I did. I don’t anymore, but I think it will be emotional,” he said.
Murphy told reporters in April that the final season would feature a time jump and focus more on the original castmembers, shifting the focus from its previous relocated home in New York.
“The final season is really its own story and its own location, and while the New York stuff will be alive, the final season is not New York-centric at all,” Murphy said. “It really [will be] a lovely, fitting season that … dwells on the original people that were on the show and what happens to them and how they give back. That really is the last season. … We’ll revisit some of the new kids that came and went. There’s a return of the Jane-Matt characters in a big way. It’s really interesting, a very sweet, satisfying ending to the story.”
Murphy’s original vision for the end of the series featured Rachel and Finn’s (the late Cory Monteith) “star-crossed lovers getting together and having a happy ending and them both getting their dreams.” He added, “The fact that that can’t be is a big pain in all of our hearts.”
Glee‘s final season returns midseason on Fox. An exact premiere date has not yet been determined.
Naya Rivera will be taking the stage at the Trevor Project’s annual gala fundraiser.
The 26-year-old half-Puerto Rican singer will join her fellow Glee stars Jane Lynch, DarrenCriss, AmberRiley and ChrisColfer, as well as American Idolalum Adam Lambert at TrevorLIVE, on December 8 at the Hollywood Palladium.
Hosted by comedienne KathyGriffin, the event raises funds for The Trevor Project, which provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention services for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth. Lynch will be honored by the organization.
Lambert, along with Riley, Smashstar Megan Hilty and Glee alum Cheyenne Jackson, will take the stage for special performances.
Others scheduled to make an appearance include Dot-Marie Jones and HarryShum, Jr., of Glee, SarahMichelleGellar of Buffy the VampireSlayer and TheCrazyOnes; HannahSimone of NewGirl; AndrewRannells of Girls; AllisonJanney of Mom and Masters of Sex; TV host RickiLake and JenniferCoolidge of AmericanPie.
The show will be produced by So You Think You Can Dancejudge Adam Shankman, whose directing and producing credits include RockofAges, Hairspray, Glee and the 2010 Academy Awards.
The red carpet and pre-show will be shown via livestream.
Roberto Aguire is Boulevard-bound… And, he’ll share the ride with a beloved Oscar winner.
The Mexican-American actor will be starring opposite Robin Williams in the Dito Montiel-directed Boulevard.
Williams will play Nolan Mark, a long married man forced to come face to face with his own secrets after meeting the emotionally closed young adult Leo, played by Aguire.
Production on the film is scheduled to start in Nashville in May 2013.
Camellia Entertainment’s Monica Aguirre Diez Barroso and Mia Chang are producing the film, alongside Jeffrey Gelber and Evil Media Empire’s Ryan Belenzon.
Aguire made his film debut in Glee star Chris Colfer’s Struck By Lightning, opening this week.
The Sundance Award winning Montiel recently finished directing the indie crime drama Empire State starring The Hunger Games’Liam Hemsworth and Dwayne Johnson.
It looks like Naya Rivera’s headed back to school…
Even though she graduated from William McKinley High School, the 25-year-old half-Puerto Rican singer/actress will be returning to Fox’s Glee next season.
Following the hit musical dramedy’s last season, which saw several of the show’s seniors graduate, series co-creator Ryan Murphy extended an open invitation to all 15 regulars, including Rivera, to return for Season 4. And, it looks like virtually all accepted the offer and are set to return, although not everyone will be in every episode.
Along with Rivera, other returning Glee stars include Lea Michele, Cory Monteith, Matthew Morrison, Jane Lynch, Chris Colfer, Kevin McHale, Darren Criss, Amber Riley, Jenna Ushkowitz, Jayma Mays, Dianna Agron, Mark Salling, Harry Shum Jr. and Heather Morris.
Each actor’s workload will vary as the show works to accommodate the large cast and make room for new characters, including American Idol runner-up Jessica Sanchez. Glee has already booked Kate Hudson and Sarah Jessica Parker for multi-episode arcs.
In addition to storylines reasons, some cast members may have reduced presence on the show as they pursue other projects, including features, theater and music.
It’s been a little more than two months since Whitney Houston’s untimely passing… But Naya Rivera, Lea Michele and their Glee co-stars are paying tribute to the late songstress.
Next week’s episode of Fox’s hit dramedy will be dedicated to Houston, with the cast performing eight songs from Whitney’s extensive catalog of music, including Rivera and Michele’s rendition of “How Will I Know.”
In the episode entitled “Dance with Somebody,” the 25-year-old half-Puerto Rican singer/actress and 25-year-old part-Spanish actress/singer partner with co-stars Amber Riley and Chris Colfer to perform their stirring, slowed-down version of Houston’s up-tempo classic.
Along with “How Will I Know,” the Glee cast will perform “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me),” “Saving All My Love For You,” “So Emotional,” “It’s Not Right But It’s Okay,” “I Have Nothing” and “My Love Is Your Love.”
Glee’s Whitney Houston tribute will air on Tuesday, April 24 at 8:00 pm on Fox.
She’s masteredAdele, Rihannaand West Side Story’s Anita… And now Glee’s oh-so-saucy star Naya Rivera is taking on the music of The King of Pop.
The 25-year-old half-Puerto Rican actress/singer’s character Santana Lopez will be going toe-to-toe with Grant Gustin’s conniving character Sebastian on the Fox musical dramedy’s Michael Jackson-themed episode.
Rivera and Gustin will face off in a vocal duel to Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal,” as Santana tries to protect Blaine’s honor since Sebastian has been trying everything to break up Kurt (Chris Colfer) and Blaine (Darren Criss).
The stripped-down-but-still-high-energy number features Santana, Sebastian, two cellists and an empty room full of chairs.
Glee’s Michael Jackson-themed episode airs Tuesday, January 31 on Fox.
