Jane Lynch Shares Sad ‘Glee’ Moment That Led to Favorite Naya Rivera Scene

Jane Lynch recently shared why one of Glee‘s saddest episodes led to one of Naya Rivera‘s most powerful performances.

Lynch, 65, was one of several cast members who appeared on a special episode of Kevin McHale and Jenna Ushkowitz‘s rewatch podcast, And That’s What You REALLY Missed. The episode, dedicated to Rivera’s memory, featured different performers recalling their favorite moment and memories with their late costar.

For Lynch, who played the unforgettable Sue Sylvester, a moment with Rivera, who died at 33 years old in 2020, that really stands out is from the show’s 5th season. The episode, titled “The Quarterback,” features the glee club members, old and new, coping with the news of Finn Hudson’s death.

Finn was portrayed by actor Cory Monteith, who died at 31 before season 5 began filming. 

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Lynch and Rivera shared a scene in the episode that stuck with the Only Murders in the Building star years after the fact.

“It was the episode after Corey died. And I had a scene with Naya, and as Sue Sylvester, I say something just horrible about Finn, played by Corey. And Naya grabbed me by the collar and threw me up against the wall. I mean, it was — I was scared. It was powerful,” Lynch recalls.

In the scene, Santana Lopez (Rivera) returns to William McKinley High School to honor Finn and rallies against Sue’s decision to take down a memorial to him in the school halls.

“You wanted that memorial gone because you’re such a coldhearted bitch,” Santana levels at Sue. “A miserable, self-centered bitch who has spent every waking minute of the past three years trying to make our lives miserable. I’m officially over it.”

Sue responds that Santana needs to be careful about what she says, to which Santana says she no longer cares because she isn’t a student at the school anymore.

“I have hated you ever since the day I met you. You are a horrible person who never had a nice word to say about Finn Hudson, so don’t you dare think for a second that he didn’t hate you, too!” Santana says.

Sue threatens to call the police and an emotional Santana then shoves her backward into a bookshelf in the corner of her office before appearing slightly surprised at her own behavior and leaving.

“It was real, and she meant it,” Lynch said of the scene. “And I was very impressed with her, her commitment, and her strength because I’m a big girl.”

She concluded the memory by adding, “Also, I remember how she would have these monologues and she’d be word-perfect in the first take. She was a real pro. So missed.”

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Rivera died from drowning while swimming off a rental boat with her son, Josey Hollis Dorsey, in Lake Piru in Ventura County, Calif., on July 8, 2020.

Elsewhere in the podcast episode, McHale also remembered how “powerful” Rivera was when she became Santana, adding, “The fact that they had her to handle such a difficult role, powerful role, complicated role, and [she was] just an expert. I think one of the best actors I’ve ever seen, one of the [best] singers I’ve ever heard.”

He continued, “And she never talked… like, it was always shocking, I think going back and watching it now, because people would ask us, ‘How did she handle the responsibility of playing that role?’ I’m like, ‘You’d never know.’ ”