PopWrap: Santana really had an amazing season -- full of emotional upheaval. Did you ever expect this seemingly minor character would become, to me, the show's bright spot?
Naya Rivera: From day one, my goal was just to do good work – and stick around [laughs]. I never thought this would happen, but I’m just so happy that it did. It’s so shocking to me, and very, very flattering that people love me because they love Santana. I feel so blessed.
PW: You've also become quite the lesbian du jour. I'd imagine that's changed your fan interactions.
Naya: [laughs] I got proposed to by women twice today at a Meet & Greet. And at the last tour stop, I got two bouquets of roses. It’s so sweet. Getting hit on by both genders is such a champagne problem.
PW: For my money, Santana got the best songs and storylines this season. Was there ever a pre-"Glee" point where you had to think: "ok, singing or acting?"
Naya: Totally. All my life I’ve had anxiety about focusing on acting or focusing on singing – how am I going to juggle it. So to be blessed with a show like this where I can do both is icing on the cake. It’s another champagne problem.
PW: Any particular favorite moments from season two?
Naya: I loved what the fans having lovingly dubbed “The Hurt Locker” – when Santana confessed her love for Brittany. It was the first time, as an actor, I saw the fruits of my labor. I was so prepared for that scene and in my heart, I was happy with the work I did. And to be so proud of something you did is the best feeling, no matter the profession.
PW: I know the writers are still breaking season three, so what would you like to see for Santana next year?
Naya: I’d like to see her explore her sexuality more – maybe with people aside from Brittany. I know everyone wants them together, but I think [show writer] Brad Falchuk put it best when he said that this is about Santana’s journey and not so much about her with Brittany. I’d love to see her get a girlfriend and maybe soften up a bit as a result.
PopWrap: Artie made some questionable decisions towards the end of season two -- what was your take?
Kevin McHale: He got a little mean! At first, I thought, “I could never talk to girls the way Artie does, I’m just not that confidant.” But at the same time, I would never say some of the things he says either. I mean, he can be a little mean to Tina and Brittany. There’s clearly some issues going on there that he needs to work out.
PW: Fans were also surprised that season two ended with a massive loss -- were you?
Kevin: From the beginning, we were all led to believe that first season would be a loss but we’d win in the second season. Literally up until we started filming that episode we thought we would win. We got the script in sections, so we were filming it before we knew the ending.
PW: Matthew Morrison sort of bemoaned that practice, does it bother you?
Kevin: Growing up, I always heard stories about actors not knowing the endings to their secretive shows so when we got to the finale I thought, “yes, I’m finally part of one of those shows!” [laughs]
PW: What would you like to see for Artie in season three?
Kevin: Maybe fix his issue with how he speaks to women. But I got to do a lot of great songs this season and working with Brittany, that dynamic was just so great – maybe they could pair me up with someone else.
PW: Like who?
Kevin: Quinn might be fun [laughs]! I think Dianna [Agron] and I could have a good time. And we can always bring Gwyneth Paltrow back!
PW: Maybe your new bud Katy Perry could play a girlfriend for Artie?
Kevin: I would not complain one bit. That video was so much fun. I had never done anything like that.
PW: You mean, since NLT?
Kevin: Well, [laughs], you know, a video where I wasn’t the singer or on that scale. We shoot three music videos a week on the show, so it was so cool to take it a little easy on that. Plus, the fact that she even thought to ask me was incredible. Such an honor.
PopWrap: How's the tour going?
Jenna Ushkowitz: It’s going great – we’re at the halfway mark, with New York coming up, and I'm so excited to go home and do my Long Island [laughs] thing. Then we go to London, which is like almost two weeks of performing for them. We talk to our foreign fans on Twitter all the time, so I'm glad we can go there and do that. Plus, it’s the O2. Come on!
PW: You went straight from filming the show to rehearsing for the tour to performing nightly -- how do you guys physically make it through?
Jenna: Lots of Red Bull [laughs]. No, but it’s nice because when we’re performing, we get to sleep in and have the morning off. Well, the smart ones sleep in and then sight-see in the afternoon before performing. But when we film the movie we’ll be working all day.
PW: Naya, Lea Michele, Matt Morrison and some of your other co-stars are working on solo albums. Do you think that's in your future?
Jenna: Not right now. It’s definitely an option, and I think the possibility is fun to think about, but I don’t even know what my sound would be like right now. We’ll see.
PW: Fans were a little surprised by the finale -- as was Kevin. What was your take?
Jenna: Hey, at least we got to Nationals! I actually thought we were going to win -- it was a shock to us too, but then you have nowhere else to go. The season ended on a sweet note and we’re all still friends, so we have another year of Glee club coming up. Hopefully next year we’ll win something!
PW: But graduation is looming -- do you think next year will be the last for this cast?
Jenna: I don’t know what’s going to happen, we still haven’t even heard what the first episode of season three will be, but I did hear that there will be a graduation in May, but that doesn’t mean the end of anything.
PW: If it is the last season for Tina, what would you like to see for her?
Jenna: Oh goodness, I would love one huge dream sequence – she hasn’t gotten that total fantasy fireworks sequence yet, so I’d like that for her. I would also love to see some more love problems with her, Mike and Artie. But anything we think of isn’t half as good as what the writers come up with.
Source: NYPOST
