Actor Samuel Larsen was up for one of the major roles on “Glee” before landing his cameo appearance.
In an interview with Insider prior to the 10-year mark since “The Glee Project” ended, Larsen said that he received a second call to reprise his part as football player Sam Evans, a position that was subsequently performed by Chord Overstreet. Sam Evans was first introduced in season two.
He said that there were five other actors (including Overstreet) at the callback, but Larsen thought he “didn’t fit in” because of his unbuttoned shirt, long hair, and several necklaces. Although he knew he was “not a quarterback,” he claimed to be “crushed” that he didn’t win the role.
As soon as Larsen joined the cast as Christian student Joe Hart in season three, he claims that competition for the same “Glee” part resulted in “weirdness” between him and Overstreet.
He said that there was often a strangeness that went something like, “I nearly got your job, now I’m here doing my own work.” “Perhaps he assumed I had an ego about it, and perhaps I assumed he did as well. We were undoubtedly both in error.”
The actor stated they began “clashing” on site and that they were either “the best of friends” or “not getting along.”
But he said that they also got along since they were trying to live “a modern-day Hollywood existence” while adhering to their own religions. When “Glee” was being shot, Larsen said, he was going through a breakup and would spend days at Overstreet’s house.
We became so close, he said to Insider. Although Overstreet “felt I was an asshole and I thought he was,” Larsen acknowledged that there was “a little amount of friction,” adding that “maybe we both were right and wrong at the same time.”
Larsen was not chosen for the role of Sam, but he eventually received a part via “The Glee Project.”
Following the callback, casting director Robert Ulrich and his staff reportedly encouraged Larsen to go on “The Glee Project,” an Oxygen reality competition series in which contestants compete to earn a position on “Glee.”
The actor said that at initially, he wasn’t pleased about this.
When it was only him and five other men left, he recalled, “I remember being very angry because all of a sudden they want to throw me in with hundreds of thousands of other people.” “I was so near. Ryan Murphy and I had previously met. I had already met everyone.”
The Glee Project’s first season co-winner Larsen subsequently landed a seven-episode role on “Glee” as Joe.
