Cory Monteith: "I Was Fortunate To Have The Arts Inspire Me"

    "When I was a kid, I struggled a lot with who I was and where my life was going and what I was interested in," said Monteith, who was found dead Saturday, said in a Project Limelight video discussing the importance of the arts and arts education. Earlier this week, he shared a meal at Vancouver's East of Main Cafe, a restaurant whose proceeds benefit the Project.

    vimeo.com

    On Thursday, Cory Monteith had met up with Project Limelight co-founder Mauren Webb and others for a bite.

    .@eastofMAINcafe and @ProjLimelight Great meal with good friends. @maureenwebb Oh. And this guy. @CoryMonteith

    Elena K.

    @slimyagent

    .@eastofMAINcafe and @ProjLimelight Great meal with good friends. @maureenwebb Oh. And this guy. @CoryMonteith

    Thanks for a great evening @CoryMonteith and @slimyagent! #Inspiring

    Maureen Webb

    @maureenwebb

    Thanks for a great evening @CoryMonteith and @slimyagent! #Inspiring

    Last year, Monteith and Richard Branson helped kick off the Project Limelight launch, with Monteith talking about how he got to know Webb. As he told the Globe and Mail:

    He was a 19-year-old teenager going down "a very dark path" when he met Maureen Webb in Nanaimo, B.C.

    "I was literally walking from the London Drugs with bags of groceries at a loose end in my life, a real transitional phase, looking for the next thing to do. I didn't know what that was," Mr. Monteith, who has spoken of his teenage alcohol and drug use in the past, told The Globe and Mail. "She was a friend of a friend who suggested on the side of the street ... that I come into her studios and take these acting classes. And I said, 'What am I going to do with acting?'"

    What he did, eventually, was become a TV star.

    "It was that initial inspiration that started me on what's going to be a 10-year career so far, culminating in Glee, which is a huge success. And it all started with a Project Limelight-like thing," said Mr. Monteith, now 30, whose TV character Finn Hudson's personal development is also aided (albeit in a different way) by his membership in the high school glee club.

    "Eat. Drink. Give." If you're in Vancouver BC, stop by @eastofMAINcafe. 100% profits committed to @ProjLimelight.

    Montourage Unite

    @MontourageUnite

    "Eat. Drink. Give." If you're in Vancouver BC, stop by @eastofMAINcafe. 100% profits committed to @ProjLimelight.

    More About Project Limelight:

    View this video on YouTube

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