Mark Salling, who starred alongside Cory Monteith on Glee, shared that more than a year since the actor’s tragic passing, his absence is still intensely felt on set.

Mark Salling On Cory Monteith

Salling, 32, says that Monteith shared some characteristics of his Glee character Finn Hudson – who was memorialized on the show in a touching season five episode titled “The Quarterback.”

“Cory Monteith was a great leader as a character and person in real life,” Salling told People. “It’s a big, obvious hole. I still think about him all the time.”

“He was kind of like the quarterback of the show, which sounds cliché because the [tribute] episode was called that, but he was kind of like that in real life,” Salling added.

For Glee‘s upcoming sixth and final season, while the group will still be missing Monteith, it will largely be a return to the early days of Glee with most of the original cast members returning in meaningful ways. “It’s like we never left,” said Salling, who will be back as a series regular after only popping up as a guest star last season.

“I’ve been through so much with some of these cast members,” the actor elaborated. “Traveling the world, international tours … it’s really like family.”

Though Salling is happy to be reuniting with Lea Michele, Matthew Morrison, Naya Rivera, Heather Morris, Chris Colfer, Darren Criss, Jenna Ushkowitz and more, not enough time has passed to give him a sense of closure when it comes to Monteith’s death.

“I don’t think there will be any closure,” Salling admitted. “Not yet.”