- Samuel Larsen cried after watching his first episode of "Glee" because he thought he "did terrible."
- He played Joe Hart, a Christian teen and member of the "God Squad" who joins the glee club.
Joining the established cast of one of the biggest shows on TV is an intimidating feat — so when Samuel Larsen started acting on "Glee," he was understandably nervous.
Speaking to Insider for the 10th anniversary of the end of "The Glee Project," Larsen said he was particularly insecure about his performance during his first few episodes.
"I remember even seeing my first episode of 'Glee,' I cried right after," he said. "I thought I did terrible."
After winning a role through "The Glee Project" in 2011, Larsen appeared on the third season of the hit musical series as Joe Hart, a Christian teen who joins the glee club.
Larsen said some of the first scenes he shot were with the "God Squad," alongside experienced actors Dianna Agron (Quinn Fabray), Amber Riley (Mercedes Jones), and Chord Overstreet (Sam Evans).
"I remember just spitting out my lines very fast because I was nervous," he said. "I didn't want to forget anything."
But Larsen said after the first episode he could tell he "got better very quickly after that — not even better, just more comfortable."
Other 'Glee' cast members helped relieve some of that pressure
Larsen said the other cast members, especially late actor Cory Monteith (Finn Hudson), made him feel more comfortable on set. He attributed a lot of this to Monteith's "goofy" attitude.
"Cory could kinda laugh at his situation a bit more," he explained. "He was like, 'Guys, this is ridiculous, what we're doing.' It was very much like, 'Dude, don't think about the million people that are gonna see it. We're just in the choir room joking around together.'"
He said this mindset "really took the pressure off" of him.
Even though Larsen originally won a seven-episode arc on "Glee," he was renewed as a guest for season four and appeared in 25 episodes total.
He told Insider that once that "pressure alleviated," it was "a lot easier to have fun with it and do my best work."