With a 22-city tour ready to get underway in support of his eponymous self-titled album, Matthew Morrison reflects on how far he has gone, from a struggling actor vying for every juicy or off-beat role, to finding success in Broadway, to finally becoming a household name and a bonafide recording artist, thanks to “Glee”.
As part of his prep for his forthcoming tour, the “Glee” star, better known to avid viewers as ‘Mr. Schue’ or ‘Will Schuester’, is filming several Funny or Die sketches that will accompany his lengthy tour. His tour, which will be co-presented by VH1 Save the Music Foundation, will be a variety show of sorts, with the actor/singer pulling show inspirations from mid-20th century iconic artists like Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr, and Frank Sinatra.
Looking back, none of these would be happening to the actor if “Glee” didn’t skyrocket to the status that it carries today in mainstream pop culture and media, and Morrison never ceases to be grateful, but it also makes him long for the days where he enjoyed the challenge, unpredictability, and toughness of fighting and auditioning for every role and break that the biz has to offer.
“It’s a tough thing. I really enjoyed the struggle of being an actor. There’s something about having big dreams and going after them. Once you reach a certain kind of success there’s a toll to maintain that success; and there’s a lot more expectations. It’s hard,” Morrison explains. He also went on to elaborate how Mr. Schuester’s attitude and perspective closely mirrors his own. In the pilot season of the show, his character was very much like “the inspirational teacher that you always wish you had, that you can go to with any problem”, and he says he tried to fill in those shoes even off-cam, considering that the cast was made up of relatively unknown actors, from the small screen at least. Following the show’s success, almost every cast member found their footing in the industry, one example is Chris Colfer, who is set to star in his first feature film which he penned, in addition to a Disney Channel pilot in which he also wrote the script. “Everyone’s in their own zone now, and has their own thing going on. Movies and stuff,” Matthew says.
So how does he and the entire cast of the critically acclaimed and uber successful FOX series deal with their newfound success in show business? “You know, none of us have experienced this kind of notoriety before,” he says, “But we’ve gone through it as a family and we keep each other grounded and in check.” That’s how.
Matthew Morrison’s self-titled debut release is set to hit stores on May 10. His 22-city album tour will kick off this summer.