The grief for Naya Rivera is great. The "Glee" creators have come up with something to take care of their son's future.
The death of actress Naya Rivera (1987-2020) at the age of 33 moves colleagues and fans worldwide. While their former "Glee" co-stars on Lake Piru in Los Padres National Forest in Ventura County, California have already said goodbye, the creators of the TV series have now also spoken out. However, Ryan Murphy (54), Brad Falchuk (49) and Ian Brennan (42) don't just want to leave it at words – they are active for Rivera's four-year-old son Josey.
In a statement published in full by "Variety", the three men write that they are "heartbroken about the loss of our friend Naya Rivera". In order to support their son, who comes from a divorced marriage to actor Ryan Dorsey (36), they want to set up a college fund together. This is intended to enable the boy to receive extensive school education later on.
"Naya was more than just an actress on our show"
From the beginning of the series Rivera played the cheerleader Santana Lopez in "Glee". Now the makers revealed that the 33-year-old shouldn't have been a main character. "But it didn't take us more than an episode or two before we realized we were lucky enough to find one of the most talented stars we've ever had the pleasure of working with."
With Rivera the whole package was right: "Naya could act, she could dance and she could sing. (…) She could easily switch between scary hard and deeply vulnerable." According to the series makers, the actress was "a real professional" who "always made everyone laugh on the set". They summed up: "Naya was more than just an actress on our show – she was our friend."