Cory Monteith Played Drug Addict In 'McCanick', Last Film Before His Death

by UInterviewJuly 19, 2013, 12:00 amNews >

Cory Monteith’s last film role was that of a drug addict in Josh Waller’s dark indie film McCanick. His character, Simon Weeks, has just been paroled after a 7-year stint in prison on drug-related charges when he gets enlisted by a cop (David Morse) to help solve a murder case.

Monteith, who was referred to the project by his agent, deeply desired to be a part of the film, wanting the opportunity to access his past struggles with addiction in his acting. "In my mind, I was envisioning a teeny little drug guy, but Cory Monteith is this tall, strapping man," Waller told the Los Angeles Times. "But when I met with him, he wanted to do it so badly. He was very vocal about his past, and said he wanted to tap into things from his youth that he hadn't been able to use as an actor yet."

Another part of his inspiration for seeking out the film role was an awareness that his time on Glee would have to come to an end at some point. Monteith felt like it was time for him to start bulking up his resume with meatier film roles. Another postproduction film of the late actor is indie comedy All the Wrong Reasons.

Filming on McCanick wrapped in September, but Monteith met up with Waller just a few weeks ago to view the finished cut of the film. Though Monteith hadn’t mentioned his stint in rehab, he did admit that he’d had a rough couple of months, but that things were looking better. “He sent me an email later that evening after the screening saying he was so thankful and had a lot of pride in the role. He was nervous and scared — but it was that good fear.”

Discussing the release of the film, Waller said, “It’s tricky, because you know there’s a group of people that want to see the movie because it’s his last film — but by no means does anybody want to exploit the tragedy. Waller added, “I want people to see the movie, because Cory deserves that. People would ultimately see that he had a lot more to offer artistically, and it’s a shame that this happened because now he can’t explore that.”

Waller has submitted McCanick, which doesn’t have a distributor, to the Toronto International Film Festival. As of yet, it’s unknown if it will be accepted to the September festival.

Monteith died from an accidental heroin and alcohol overdose on July 13 at 31.

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