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Glee's Amber Riley explains why she refused to film sex scene between Mercedes and Sam

12 March 2024, 16:32

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By Katie Louise Smith

"I was just like, 'No, I’m not doing it.'"

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It's been 9 years since Glee ended and thanks to Kevin McHale and Jenna Ushkowitz's Glee podcast, we're still finding out more and more wild behind-the-scenes facts about the making of the show.

In a recent episode of the And That’s What You Really Missed podcast, Amber Riley, who played the iconic Mercedes, revealed that the character was originally meant to lose her virginity to Sam, but she refused to film the scene.

At the end of season 2, Mercedes and Sam began their on-and-off relationship that spanned for the remained of the series. The broke up, got back together, broke up again, and eventually became an official couple in season 5. However, due to their jobs and the fact that Mercedes was not ready to have sex with Sam, they broke up for good in the final episode of season 5.

But if Amber hadn't spoken up, that situation might have been very different...

Amber Riley explains why she refused to film sex scene between Mercedes and Sam on Glee. Picture: Michael Buckner/Billboard via Getty Images, FOX Image Collection via Getty Images

Speaking to Kevin and Jenna, Amber revealed that she flat out said "absolutely not" to co-creator Brad Falchuk when she was handed a script where Mercedes had been written into a "full-blown" scene with Sam.

When Amber pushed back, Brad Falchuk then offered to compromise and tone it down a little: "He said, 'Well what if we just, you know, have you guys hold hands and walk to the room and then like close the door?' And I was just like, 'No, I’m not doing it.'"

Responding to Amber's comments, Kevin said: "Amazing. Respect."

Amber then continued: "I don’t tell y’all 'no'. I don’t fight on anything. I come and do my job. This?! It would have been so awkward, and I feel like it would have read awkward."

Explaining why she pushed back on it, Amber said: "I also just feel like it just wasn’t what my character would have done. I just didn’t feel that way."

Mercedes was a devout Christian who had previously shared that she was saving herself for marriage. It didn't make sense that the character would just suddenly decide to go against that.

"Let her stick to her guns if that's what she's saying, that she didn't want it," she added.

Amber also added that she was concerned about the message it would set for younger audiences at the time, too.

"I mean, I grew up the church girl. It just wouldn’t happen. Like, not at that age, you know what I’m saying? Not that easily," Amber explained. "And then being pressured and all that kind of stuff, and doing it for someone else when it’s not really what you really believe, the message that I felt that that would’ve sent to young girls wouldn’t have been great."

Good for Amber!