Naya Rivera wasn’t a series regular on Glee until the second season. She served in a recurring capacity as cheerleader and New Directions member Santana Lopez for the first season, but her impact was felt both on screen and off immediately, a fact series creators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan acknowledged in a lengthy statement released by 20th Century Fox TV in the wake of Rivera’s passing.
Read the statement in full below.
“We are heartbroken over the loss of our friend Naya Rivera,” the trio wrote.
