The TV Chick

Last week I had the chance to attend a “Carol-Oke” event for Toys for Tots. I jumped on this chance because some of the Glee cast were going to be there helping people sing carols. (Sadly, they didn’t sing themselves). If you read my site at all, you know how much I love Glee. This week is the fall finale (which means no Glee until April), and I’m not quite sure how I will fill the void. I got the chance to chat with Amber Riley (Mercedes), Cory Monteith (Finn), and Mark Salling (Puck) about their characters, what’s coming up for the fall finale and their biggest challenges filming the show. It was a holiday-themed event, so of course I wanted to know their plans as well. I will be posting all the pictures from the event tomorrow, along with the Cory and Mark interviews.

What are your plans for the holidays?
I’m going to go to my mother’s house, she’s going to cook, and we’re going to eat like pigs. And then I’m going to wake up and open my gifts.

What has been your favorite moment from filming the show so far?
Probably when we did “Somebody to Love,” that was definitely one of my favorite moments.

The musical number “Imagine,” that you filmed recently was incredibly powerful. Did you work with the deaf choir to learn the signs?
Yeah — actually it was kind of like improv. They were like “you guys go up there, and try to catch on with the signs,” so we did.

And if you could sing any song on Glee, what would it be?
I would sing “Boom Boom Pow,” by the Black Eyed Peas.

Maybe a group number?
Yeah!

Do you have a favorite song of 2009?
Single Ladies.

And what’s coming up in the fall finale?
Oh gosh, there’s going to be some great songs that you may recognize from Broadway, and some great motion picture songs.

You all have such great chemistry. Was that instant when you started filming?
I think when we first started, we figured out what the work load was going to be like, and how much we were going to be around each other. So we kind of made up in our mind, okay we’re going to work at it. Like with any relationship — a working relationship, a friendship — you have to work at that relationship, and we really did. We made it a point to get to know one another, to know how to work, how everyone’s work ethic is, and to be sensible to one another.

And what has been your biggest challenge so far?
Probably the dancing. Getting used to the dancing everyday, that was the greatest challenge. But we got used to it — we have a really great choreographer Zach Woodlee and his assistant Brooke Lipton, and they’re really wonderful, they’re good with us, they make sure that we know what we’re doing, they make us look good, they know what looks good on our bodies, so we’re confident when we go up and film

What do you want to see with your character going forward?
I really want to see Mercedes’ home life. I think we got enough love drama going around…so I really want to see Mercedes’ home life, I think that would be really cool.

Be sure to tune in tomorrow night at 9 pm on Fox for the fall finale of Glee!