Cory Monteith: A Look Back At Late Actor’s Past Drug Abuse & Rehab Stints

The cause of Cory Monteith’s death is still not known, an autopsy on the actor is scheduled for today, but over the years the “Glee” star opened up about his past drug use and time spent in rehab.

During the junket for 2011’s “Glee: The 3D Concert Movie,” Monteith spoke to Access Hollywood about going public with his past.

“I think it’s important for me to kind of provide an example kind… lead by example and kind of use my experience to inspire others,” Monteith, who was in rehab multiple times – most recently in March – told Access in 2011.

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Also in 2011, he spoke candidly with Parade magazine about his drug abuse.

“I’m lucky on so many counts—I’m lucky to be alive… I burned a lot of bridges. I was out of control,” he told the mag, before adding that his drug use included “anything and everything, as much as possible.”

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Family and friends staged an intervention for the Canadian when he was 19 years old and he entered rehab, but soon relapsed and stole money from a family member.

“I knew I was going to get caught, but I was so desperate I didn’t care,” he told the mag at the time. “It was a cry for help. I was confronted and I said, ‘Yeah, it was me.’ It was the first honorable, truthful thing that had come out of my mouth in years.”

The family member he stole from gave the actor two choices: sober up, or the theft would be reported to the police and charges would be pressed. He opted to stop “fighting” himself, and set out to get clean. After relocating to a small Canadian town (Nanaimo) to live with a family friend, he quit using drugs and became a roofer. Monteith dabbled in acting, and after performing a scene about a suicidal man, finally felt a sense of pride from “working had and being good at something.”

The actor also opened up about his struggle with addiction on Canada’s “George Tonight.”

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“It wasn’t so much about the substances per se. It was more about not fitting in… I hadn’t found myself at all. I had no idea who I was. I had no idea where I was going,” he said on the talk show in 2011.

In the interview, he explained that the success of “Glee” inspired him to come forward with his struggles.

“I felt like I needed to step in at some point and relate to people going through my experiences and the truth of my life and where I come from,” he said.

When asked if it was ever hard to staying sober while in the Hollywood spotlight, the actor said, “No man, you mean now, no, it’s like I just redouble my efforts on what I’m doing.”

— Jesse Spero