It's been well over a year since Cory Monteith passed away, but his Glee family still feels the loss. In a new interview with People, Mark Salling discussed the void Monteith's death left on set and in his personal life.
"Cory Monteith was a great leader as a character and person in real life," he said. "It's a big, obvious hole. I still think about him all the time."
As for whether he thinks he and his fellow cast members will ever really move on from Monteith's death, Salling remains skeptical. "I don't think there will be any closure. Not yet."
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Salling — who was part of the show's original cast — did not return as a series regular for the fifth season, but that's about to change. The 32-year-old actor is set to come back as the jock-turned-glee-clubber Puck for Glee's sixth and final season.
"I've been through so much with some of these cast members," says the actor. "Traveling the world, international tours, it's really like family."
And, according to Salling, Monteith was something of a patriarch to that family. "He was kind of like the quarterback of the show," he said, alluding to the title of last year's Cory Monteith tribute episode. "He was kind of like that in real life."
The final season of Glee will premiere on Friday, January 9, on Fox. (People)