Evan (Matthew Morrison) and Jules (Cameron Diaz) in "What to expect when you're expecting." (Melissa Moseley)
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Emma (Jayma Mays, left), Will (Matthew Morrison, right) and Artie (Kevin McHale,... (Adam Rose/FOX)
Matthew Morrison plays Cameron Diaz's partner in the new film "What to Expect When You're Expecting," loosely based on Heidi Murkoff and Sharon Mazel's pregnancy guide that has sold more than 35 million copies worldwide. See photo gallery.
The couple in the film knows what to expect - a boy - which is more than Morrison knows about what is happening on next year's "Glee," in which he stars as teacher Will Schuester.
Though the Fox series is finishing up its third season Tuesday and has been renewed for a fourth - moving to a Thursday time slot after "The X Factor" - creator Ryan Murphy and his staff have been
GLEE
Morrison's character has guided McKinley High School's glee club for three years, but Tuesday's season finale is graduation for many of the characters, some (all?) of whom may not be back.
The musical dramedy, said Fox Entertainment president Kevin Reilly at the network's fall season announcement on Monday, is "poised for a creative renaissance." But that was as far as anybody would go in spilling the beans.
"I think I'll be back because I play the teacher," says Morrison with a bit of a I-don't-know-for-sure shrug. At the time, the "Glee" cast was still filming the graduation episode.
"The last two weeks have been incredibly sad, kind of cathartic because the writing is so great and it's mirroring what we are actually going through," says the 33-year-old actor. "It's kind of like saying goodbye to a lot of people, but the thing is, is that we really don't know what is going to happen next and a lot of people don't know if they're going to have jobs next year."
In "What to Expect," opening Friday, Morrison plays a dancer on a "Dancing with the Stars"-style show who hooks up with his partner, a TV fitness/weight-loss guru played by Diaz. Though
Will (Matthew Morrison, center) proposes to Emma in the "Yes/No" winter premiere episode of "Glee" on FOX. (Adam Rose/FOX)
unmarried and not having known each other long, the couple decide to have the child together. When they find out it will be a boy, this inevitably leads to conflict over circumcision
In the movie, Morrison's Evan gets to help deliver the couple's baby. He says as an actor he had a plan as to how the scene would go, but Diaz took him in another direction and he was impressed on how "believable" she was. And this is something he knows firsthand. While in high school, he got to go to work with his dad - who is a midwife - and delivered two babies, albeit with his father's guidance.Born at the Fort Ord base on Monterey Bay where his father was stationed in the Army, Morrison grew up in Cypress in Orange County. He got the acting bug when he was in fifth grade while visiting his grandmother in Arizona and did a children's theater production. At the Orange County High School of the Arts, then based in Los Alamitos, his teachers encouraged him to take the "leap of faith" and move to New York City.
"Luckily, I got my first Broadway show at 19," he says. And he has been working ever since, doing 10 years of Broadway shows with some movie and TV work in between.
"It kind of happened how I wanted it to happen," says Morrison. "I love that I started in the ensemble of the show. I really went through the ranks and learned my craft by being surrounded by so many great professionals. I got to talk to an older generation and learn from them."
He was doing a production of "South Pacific" at Lincoln Center in 2008 when he got the call from "Glee." Over the three seasons, Morrison has gotten to show off his singing and dancing as well as dramatic skills, and the hit show has kept Morrison busy. So getting the time off for a 10-day shoot in Atlanta last summer ("It was very hot") for "What to Expect" was unusual.
"`Glee' is kind of like the golden handcuffs because it's such a great job but it does constrict you from doing other jobs," he says. "At the same time, though, it does give you a world of opportunities."
"What to Expect" was one. Although he dances in the movie, Morrison says he turned down a lot of stuff "because I don't want everything I do to be musically
Actor Matthew Morrison is in the movie "What to Expect When You're Expecting." He was photographed at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles on Saturday, May 5, 2012. (Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer)
related."I won't do a project just to do a project," he says, adding that he's looking for things that aren't Mr. Schuester, especially dramas because that is "where my skill set is best represented."
Which sounds a bit surprising because of his musical background. Last year, Morrison released his self-titled debut album with some original songs and covers and guest vocalists like Elton John and Gwyneth Paltrow. Currently he's recording an album of mostly standards.
"Because I came from the Broadway world and haven't done a show in four years because of `Glee,' I wanted to include a number of Broadway standards to give something to those fans," he says. Among the show tunes he's recorded are "Luck Be a Lady" and "On the Street Where You Live."
Though he and his girlfriend, Renee Puente, were seen recently at the Coldplay concert at the Hollywood Bowl and the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner cocktail party, Morrison says the couple are kind of "homebodies." Right now, he's into cooking and trying a "whole gluten-free thing. I make really good chicken enchiladas. Mexican food is my favorite."
While "Glee" has made him "a lot more recognizable than I ever would be on the stage," Morrison says "There's nothing like performing live before an audience."
But the show also opened a new avenue in his career when he got to direct the holiday episode.
"It's a great place to start because the cast and crew have my back," says Morrison.
And that's why the last few weeks have been difficult.
"We've created such a great family there that I really feel like those are my kids," he says. "That's why the graduation episode is tremendously hard, because I feel like I'm really saying goodbye to my children."
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