Entertainment

When You Can See Cory Monteith's Final Films

by Kate Ward

The Toronto Film Festival might just turn into a Cory Monteith Tribute Festival. Less than one week after word came that the festival would premiere All the Wrong Reasons , one of the Glee stars' final films before his death in July, the festival announced the actor's McCanick, which was also shot prior to his death, would premiere at Toronto in September as well.

McCanick will prove to have extra significance for fans of the actor — in the film, directed by Josh C. Waller, Monteith played a street hustler who struggled with drug use. According to Waller, Monteith was attracted to the role because it delved into his demons. Said the director to E! Online, "When I met with him, he wanted to do it so badly ... He was very vocal about his past, and said he wanted to tap into things from his youth that he hadn't been able to use as an actor yet."

Monteith, who had struggled with substance abuse since he was a teenager, died in Vancouver following a lethal overdose of heroin and alcohol, just four months after he entered rehab. And, until his death, the Glee actor took pride in being able to use his experiences to help others get clean. "I felt like I had to step in at some point and relate to people my experience," Monteith told CBC in 2011. "Relate to people the truth of my life and where I come from ... If I can, through my experience, shed light on the way out of a difficult situation that I know many kids are experiencing just like I did as a teenager, that’s huge."

Watch footage of Monteith in McCanick here.