Glee creator Ryan Murphy reveals Mr. Schue was written for Justin Timberlake — and as a crystal meth addict
Ryan Murphy had a specific former boy band member in mind when he developed the character of choir teacher William Schuester for his Fox musical dramedy Glee.
The creator and producer of the Emmy-winning series revealed that Mr. Schue was initially written for Justin Timberlake. "I've never really talked about this," Murphy said during the inaugural episode of Glee alums Jenna Ushkowitz and Kevin McHale's rewatch podcast, And That's What You REALLY Missed. "That pilot was written for Justin Timberlake."
The role ultimately went to Matthew Morrison, who portrayed the William McKinley High School educator for all six seasons of the show. Before Murphy could elaborate further, Ushkowitz and McHale ended the episode and teased the rest of the second parter airing next week.
FOX Image Collection via Getty Images; Jerod Harris/Getty Images Matthew Morrison as William Schuester in 'Glee'; Justin Timberlake
Earlier in the episode, Murphy also shared that the choir teacher initially had a much darker, Euphoria-esque edge, revealing that co-creator Ian Brennan's original script crafted Mr. Schue as a drug addict. "Mr. Schue, I believe, was a crystal meth addict in Ian's script," Murphy said. "The NC-17 version of show choir with a weird protagonist who was unraveling."
He asked Brennan to rework the script so the final product would be more "pop-y" and "optimistic." The show, which ran between 2009 and 2015, also starred Lea Michele, Cory Monteith, Naya Rivera, Dianna Agron, Amber Riley, Jane Lynch, Chris Colfer, and Mark Salling.
Murphy has been making headlines recently for his controversial Netflix series based on serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. Some of the families of Dahmer's victims have called out the series as exploitative and maintained that Murphy and his collaborators never reached out to them, while a production assistant called it "one of the worst shows she's worked on" as a person of color. In response, Murphy clarified the research methods behind the show and claimed he reached out to victims' loved ones but did not hear back.
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