Cory Monteith dead at 31: Director recalls ‘vulnerable’ star

As the shock of Cory Monteith’s sudden death began to settle in Monday, tributes to the “Glee� star started trickling in from all corners of Hollywood.

Many who encountered the 31-year-old offered their thoughts on Monteith, who they described as the kind of actor who actually seemed engaged at typically boring media events; a man madly in love with his girlfriend, co-star Lea Michele; and a person struggling with addiction but open about it.

One of those people, filmmaker Gia Milani, had her own favorable experience with the actor. In a television interview years ago, Milani found Monteith so endearing that she began to consider casting him in her independent film.

PHOTOS: Cory Monteith dies; ‘Glee’ star was 31

“He was so down to earth, open, honest and vulnerable,� Milani wrote in an e-mail Sunday, recalling watching the actor on the Canadian program “George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight.�

So she reached out to Monteith, and soon he had landed a part in her drama “All the Wrong Reasons,� filmed last summer. In the movie, which does not yet have a release date, Monteith plays James, the ambitious manager of a big box department store who is struggling to help his wife (Karine Vanasse) deal with post-traumatic stress disorder.

He juggled his “Glee� responsibilities in Los Angeles while shooting Milani’s movie in Canada, frequently flying from coast-to-coast. Despite the travel, he never showed his fatigue, the director said.

“The cast and crew adored him,� she said. “Sometimes he would sneak out and hide behind the crew vans and surprise his fans who had discovered where we were shooting and would gather, hoping for a glimpse.�

On set, Monteith tried to maintain a lighthearted attitude, often pranking those around him. On the last day of shooting, he revealed to Milani that he had secretly hidden his black Ray-Ban sunglasses in the background of every scene he was in.

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He said he “would point them out to me when we got to do commentary on the DVD. I thought that was a riot,� the filmmaker said.

After wrapping “All the Wrong Reasons� in August, Monteith would travel to Philadelphia a month later to tackle darker fare in “McCanick,� in which he plays a drug-addled criminal. But he showed a more dramatic side on Milani’s film as well, she said, pushing himself past the easygoing Finn Hudson so many recognized him for on “Glee.�

“I was impressed with Cory’s ability to embody my flawed character, and I am fiercely proud of Cory’s performance,� Milani said, adding that she and the actor watched the finished film a few weeks ago in Los Angeles. “I am grateful I got to see him then. It doesn’t feel real that he’s gone.�

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