It's never easy when you lose someone you looked up to, and this is no less
true for celebrities. In fact, fame can further complicate the death of a mentor or a friend.
Here are some of the actors whose lives were changed forever after a co-star passed away.
Three years after meeting on the set of Glee, Lea Michele and Cory Monteith made their red carpet
debut as a couple. Sadly, less than a year after that, Monteith tragically died of an overdose.
While their relationship was still relatively new at the time of his passing,
Michele and Monteith had gotten to know each other well over the years, as their Glee characters
had also been romantically involved. In 2012, Michele even told Marie Claire:
"No one knows me better than Cory."
In a later interview, Michele said her grief
over Monteith's death followed her everywhere. She explained:
"Grief goes with you everyday
[with] whatever you're doing — when there's great moments, when there's hard moments."
In 2014, Michele told Glamour that, at the time of Monteith's passing,
the two had become settled with each other, telling the outlet:
"We were done. We were it."
However, the actress also revealed to Teen Vogue that her love for Monteith
and his loss gave her a strength she didn't have before. She said:
"I somehow feel the insane love Cory and I had for each other
morphed into this strength that I have right now."
Paul Walker's death in 2013 halted production on Furious 7, as the cast and crew worked through
their grief — and figured out the best way to move forward with the project. And Vin Diesel,
Walker's Fast and Furious co-star for more than a decade, has openly shared his grief with fans.
When speaking with Today in 2015,
Diesel revealed he'd named his fourth daughter Pauline after his late friend.
"And it felt like… you know, a way to keep his memory a part of my family."
In 2019, Diesel shared an emotional tribute to Walker on Instagram.
In the post, Diesel addressed Walker directly, writing:
"I reflect on how lucky I am to call you my brother."
In the years since Walker's passing,
Diesel and his family have also sustained a close friendship with Walker's daughter, Meadow.
Paul Walker's sudden death in 2013 devastated not only Vin Diesel,
but his other Fast & Furious co-star, Dwayne Johnson. While some of Walker's co-stars were
outspoken about their grief, however, Johnson chose to process the tragedy in private.
Nonetheless, in an interview with The Independent in 2014, Johnson described the moment he learned
about Walker's passing. He was driving with his wife Lauren Hashian when he started receiving
messages on his phone. Johnson told the publication that, after pulling over the car:
"We said a prayer right then to give his daughter
strength — because we had talked about our daughters."
Since then, Johnson has rarely spoken about Walker's death, but in 2019,
he shared a rare birthday tribute on Instagram. In the post, Johnson explained:
"I never post about my friend.
Personal thing, but I prefer to keep our memories and bond private and quiet."
Johnson noted that Walker's death helped to remind him not to take life for granted. He wrote:
"We never know what's around the corner, so we gotta live as greatly as we can
in the honor of our loved ones and ancestors who are no longer with us."
Naya Rivera's tragic death shocked the world over, but it was especially hard on her former
co-stars. Many took to social media to share their grief over the loss of their friend,
and among those most vocal about Rivera's loss was Kevin McHale, who starred alongside her
on Glee. McHale penned a thoughtful tribute to his co-star on Twitter. In the post, he wrote:
"I'm thankful for all the ways in which she made me a better person."
In another tweet, he continued:
"I'm thankful she became like family."
McHale also commented on Rivera's talent, writing:
"She was the most talented person I've ever known [and] I'm furious we won't get to see more."
In 2016, Star Wars fans around the world mourned the sudden passing of Carrie Fisher, who suffered
a heart attack while on a flight from London to Los Angeles. One of the lives Fisher touched the
most, though, was that of her onscreen brother of 40 years: Mark Hamill. In an interview with The
Guardian in 2017, Hamill spoke candidly about his longtime friend and co-star. He told the outlet:
"It's devastating and I still haven't come to terms with it. [...] Gosh darn it,
I still think of her in the present tense, you know?"
The Guardian columnist noted that their conversation, which should have covered
Hamill's career, kept going back to Fisher — a testament to the co-stars' lifelong friendship.
Mark Hamill took to Twitter before filming for his final Star Wars film began in 2018, telling fans:
"It's bittersweet facing my final chapter without her. She is simply irreplaceable."
Carrie Fisher's passing left everyone in the Star Wars community brokenhearted.
While those who had known her for decades no doubt dealt with the loss in their own unique ways,
Daisy Ridley was just beginning to get to know the screen icon.
After Fisher's sudden passing, Ridley revealed in an interview that she had
regretted not soaking up as much of Fisher's wisdom as possible.
She told IGN that she wished she'd asked Fisher more questions:
"Like life things, and how it was after they finished [the original movies], and were they
actually friends, and did they stay in touch, and how the filming experience actually was."
But Ridley's short time with Fisher wasn't necessarily wasted. According to Elle,
the Hollywood veteran imparted a crucial piece of advice regarding Ridley's rising fame:
to embrace her success, rather than hide from it.
Heath Ledger's death at just 28 years old left his friends, family and fans totally
heartbroken. Among those closest to Ledger was Jake Gyllenhaal, who had been the actor's co-star
in Brokeback Mountain. In the years since Ledger's death, Gyllenhaal has been open about how Ledger's
passing at such a young age impacted him. Some eight years later, the actor told People magazine:
"Personally, it affected me in ways I can't necessarily put in words
or even would want to talk about publicly."
However, Gyllenhaal did reveal that Ledger's death helped him understand mortality,
and how fleeting life is. He also opened up about losing Ledger in an interview with NPR.
"What an unfortunate thing it is that we won't be able to see the beauty of his expression."
Gyllenhaal also expanded on how the experience impacted the way he views his own career.
"I'm trying to have relationships that are as real as they possibly can be on a movie set, be
close to people because I know that it's precious."
Andy Whitfield's first real big break into Hollywood came in 2010, when he starred in Starz's
Spartacus: Blood and Sand. However, soon after the show premiered and became an instant hit,
Whitfield had to take a hiatus from the series in order to battle non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Ultimately, in 2011, Whitfield lost his life to the disease.
While Whitfield had only filmed one season of Spartacus before stepping away,
he had become very close to his co-star, Jai Courtney, on set. In fact, Courtney is even
the godfather to Whitfield's children. As the star later told Entertainment Tonight:
"He became kind of a mentor, kind of a hero to me in a way. [...] Andy was a
very special friend — and his family, I consider an extension of my own."
Courtney explained to Collider that he learned a
lot from Whitfield's approach to life. He told the outlet:
"It was just about getting real about your circumstances.
It’s a tough thing to remember sometimes, but I always feel more grounded and more
centered and more honest when I am adopting that philosophy and approaching situations that way."
When Anton Yelchin died suddenly in 2016, the entire Star Trek community, of fans, cast,
and crew, mourned together. And Zachary Quinto, Yelchin's co-star in the rebooted Star Trek films,
has been particularly candid about his grieving process, and his distress at losing his friend.
"Beautiful, beautiful guy, I don't really know how to talk about it."
Quinto also revealed to Stephen Colbert that the Star Trek cast shares
a special bond and that he, Yelchin, and the rest of the cast will always be linked together.
"I think we are genuinely connected on a really true
and authentic level as a cast, and as friends."
Quinto's grief over Yelchin's passing was further expressed in a touching Instagram post,
where Quinto lamented the young age at which the actor lost his life, calling him:
"One of the most open and intellectually curious people I have ever had the pleasure to know."
Luke Perry's 2019 passing was heartbreaking for the Riverdale cast and crew, but KJ Apa,
who played Perry's onscreen son, was hit particularly hard by the passing of his co-star.
Molly Ringwald, Apa's onscreen mother in Riverdale,
told Us Weekly that Apa was affected the most by Perry's death, saying:
"KJ and Luke were very close and had such a unique bond.
Luke was really like his father — his American father. He really assumed that role, so watching
KJ grapple with that was really tough to watch. As a mother, as just a person, it was hard to watch."
For his part, Apa remembered Perry in an interview with Mr Porter's The Journal, saying:
"I miss him. I just miss talking to him. I miss listening to him."
Apa also said:
"It made me really think. What kind of man do I want to be? And I'm still figuring it out."
Daniel Radcliffe was just a boy when he was cast as Harry Potter in 2000. Radcliffe's formative
years were spent on the set of the movies, which he starred in for more than a decade. As such, he
practically grew up around some of the most famous actors of all time — including Alan Rickman.
Rickman's 2016 passing was heartbreaking for everyone who knew him — and Radcliffe's tribute
to the late actor revealed just how big of an impact he made on Radcliffe's life in particular.
In the wake of Rickman's death, Radcliffe penned an emotional tribute honoring the actor, writing:
"People create perceptions of actors based on the parts they played
so it might surprise some people to learn that contrary to some of the sterner (or downright
scary) characters he played, Alan was extremely kind, generous, self-deprecating and funny."
Radcliffe also noted that, aside from being a talented actor,
Rickman was a kind and supportive friend. Perhaps most notably, Radcliffe wrote:
"Working with him at such a formative age was incredibly important
and I will carry the lessons he taught me for the rest of my life and career."
River Phoenix died at just 23 years old, after a prolific start to his Hollywood career. And Ethan
Hawke, Phoenix's co-star in 1985's Explorers, was notably affected by the young actor's passing.
Hawke later revealed to People Magazine, however, that the co-stars were not exactly close at the
time of Phoenix's death. In actuality, they were rivals breaking into Hollywood at the same time.
People also noted Hawke lost a role in Stand By Me to Phoenix and, for his part, Hawke admitted:
"It was a nightmare for me."
But then Phoenix died, and Hawke instantly regretted his jealousy, telling People:
"It was nothing but loss. And I learned really sharply what a waste of time that
kind of competitiveness with your peers is, that I really missed him."
That loss has stayed with Hawke throughout the years. In 2016, Hawke told Vulture that
Phoenix inspired a chapter in his children's book, Rules for a Knight. In the chapter,
the narrator describes a rival knight who was better than him at everything — and it's
only after his rival dies that the narrator realizes the true value of their friendship.
When Cameron Boyce died in July 2019, his Descendants co-star Dove Cameron
was alone in London. Cameron later told Seventeen:
"I was nervous about why I could be getting so many texts and calls, so I only looked
at my mother's text. I knew she would be the gentlest, and the most concise, whatever it was."
Cameron has been candid about her grieving process over the sudden loss of their friend.
She told E! News it was difficult to have to grieve so publicly, saying:
"It's like how do you speak about your experience with one of your favorite people,
one of your people you feel closest to?"
However, Cameron also admitted that the tragedy brought her closer to her other
co-stars — and that they really leaned on each other more than ever before. She told E! News:
"It really reminds you how important everybody is, how important your one life is."
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