Cory Monteith

I'm pretty focused on my career, and if it comes down to hanging out with somebody or learning my lines, it's gonna be learning my lines.

I was dirt-poor. I could barely hold down a job. Eventually, though, I started getting small parts on shows like 'Smallville,' 'Supernatural'... and lots of really bad sci-fi movies. I was running around the woods in wolf contacts, covered in fake blood made out of pancake syrup, roaring.

It's always exciting to explore adult roles when the vast majority of viewers that have seen me on TV know me from 'Glee,' from something of a different tone.

How do I put this? 'Glee' is like 'High School Musical' if 'High School Musical' had its stomach punched and its lunch money stolen.

I see the people in the tabloids, the ones that get bad press, who have kind of gone off the edge, and I try to study them so that I don't do that. It seems like they lost focus at some point - that's the one thing they all have in common.

I like the idea of dating, but I'm not dating anyone exclusively, particularly right now. It's hard to be in a relationship unless you're ready to go public with it. So it's a lot easier for me to not be in a relationship. I really don't want that part of my life to be tabloid fodder.

I remember I'd come home from fifth, sixth grade, and I'd watch 'Saved by the Bell' and be like, 'I hope my high school experience is like that.' And it totally wasn't. It sucked.

I don't need to be wildly famous for my life to make sense.

If people are taking pictures of me at Starbucks, it's not the end of the world. It's cool, it's fun, it's exciting.

I've been very inspired by Virgin's model of business as a force for good.

I'm a big fan of 'Glee.' I think it's really smart. And I think it's well-timed. But you can't not be surprised at the reception this show's received. It's really something else.

I think having worked in a department store setting, if my life had not taken a drastically different turn when I became an actor, there's a very high probability I would have continued to work at the department store.