VANCOUVER — Glee is about teenagers' hopes and dreams of a future in show business, but the real world of showbiz is not all fun and games.
Dianna Agron, who plays Quinn Fabray, the seemingly perfect girl who plays Finn Hudson's (Cory Monteith) cheerleader girlfriend — who's hiding her pregnancy in Glee's early episodes — came close to giving up on the business entirely, when the 2008 writers' strike derailed a career she had spent years nurturing.
Despite guest appearances in Heroes, CSI: New York, Numb3rs, Shark, Close to Home and a recurring role on Veronica Mars, she had not worked in more than a year before Glee landed in her lap.
"Every job I had was building on itself, from walk-ons to guest stars to small parts to recurring roles. You think to yourself, 'I'm really pursuing my dream and I'm so happy.'
"And then the writers' strike happened, and the whole town just kind of shut down. Those were the times when I thought, 'What am I doing here?' I thought I had everything figured out. After the strike ended, there was another musical-theatre-type project I kept going back in for, going back and going back and going back, because I convinced myself I wanted it so badly. And it fell through.
"That's when you have to just pick yourself up. Glee happened a month later, and I was cast within a one-week period. I was cast, and I started work two days later.
"We talk about this all the time on this cast. We were sitting here just last night, at the table read, and we all kept saying, 'I can't believe we're here.' I cannot believe we were here in this room, and it's so small and intimate and yet, you see it on TV and it's so large and grand. These are such beautiful people I get to see and work with on a daily basis. We're always having these 'pinch me' moments. From the beginning, our producers were so open and willing to show us that this is a safe place, that they're there to take care of us.
"We are being invited to do these amazing scenes, and something amazing has happened that I never would have expected, when I had those low moments. Every single one of us has grown to love each other and care more and more about this job and this show. We really want it to keep going, and it's thrilling to be a part of that."