Jonathan Groff on His Favorite Glee Moments and Season 2

Before Gleeyou might not have ever heard of Jonathan Groff (Jesse). But now, he can't even walk down the street without being mobbed in adulation. Talk about an overnight success! Jonathan, the guy on Glee you loved to love and loved to hate, spoke to Details about his favorite moments from the Glee season finale (they're not what you might think!), his favorite bitchy female Glee star, and whether or not he's coming back for Season 2. Yep, that's right, Season 2. Fingers crossed!

Details: Did you go to a finale party to watch the final episode?
Jonathan Groff: I ended up watching it in my apartment alone on my DVR. Very glamorous. But I didn't watch it live on TV because I did the Glee tour concert at Radio City two weekends ago, and they showed us the finale—so I got to watch it with the cast and with [creator] Ryan Murphy between the matinee and the night show.

Details: Since you've had some time to reflect, what are your Top 3 favorite finale moments?
Jonathan Groff: The first thing was near the end when New Directions sings "To Sir With Love" to Mr. Schuester [Matthew Morrison]. My mom is a teacher, so I have great, great respect for them, and one of my best friends from high school was my math teacher and that song brought me to tears. If that song can break Sue Sylvester, it can break anyone.

Details: And #2?
Jonathan Groff: That moment when Emma [Jayma Mays] was really fighting with the principal because now that they had not won regionals it was clear that the Glee Club was going to get outed. And then she and Mr. S had that really intense scene in the hallway.

Details: Her character is normally so reserved.
Jonathan Groff: Totally. And then there was that kiss. Apparently, the director of that episode said to Matt before one take, "Kiss her and surprise her, and see what she does." And so that was the take that aired—that kiss surprised the actress and the character. It was a total improv moment.

Details: Which characters deserve more screen time?
Jonathan Groff: Santana [Naya Rivera]. We just started to hear her singing on the show with little solos here and there and I think that her voice is so special. Every time she opens her mouth, I'm like "Wow."

Jonathan Groff: The Journey medley. We all have such an emotional attachment to them singing "Don't Stop Believin'." To see all the new members of the club singing together and how far they've all grown in the course of just one year was kind of mind-blowing to me.

Details: Since your character is now nemesis with Rachel [Lea Michele], it makes sense you'd want more of Santana since she's so mean to her.
Jonathan Groff: Total bitch. It's awesome! [laughs]

Details: What was your third favorite?

Details: Will you be back in Season 2 to cause more misery?
Jonathan Groff: It's still up in the air. I would love to come back, but nothing is set in stone.

Details: Would you want Jesse and Rachel back together next season?
Jonathan Groff: Anything could happen, right? Although he is a senior this year, so that might get a little illegal. [laughs]

Details: Did you know before signing on for the show that you were going to turn into a bad guy?
Jonathan Groff: I sat down with Ryan in December and he told me his sort of dreams for the character that he wanted me to have an edge and be shifty and unexpected and potentially, you know, evil. So I knew what I was in for when I jumped in.

Details: Let's talk fashion: will you miss those vivid pink Vocal Adrenaline shirts?
Jonathan Groff: I never imagined that I would ever wear that color pink as a character or in real life. What's interesting is I'm from Lancaster, PA where there is lots of Amish—that outfit is incredibly Amish. They will sometimes wear a really bright blue. I don't know if they've ever worn pink in that shade, but the collared shirt with the black suspenders and pants is very Amish. So, Amish rock star, that's what I was going for.

Details: What's one of your best memories of being part of Glee?
Jonathan Groff: At the live Glee concert right before they went on stage everyone would stand in a circle and hold hands and Ryan would give everyone a pep talk. It literally as if it had been plucked from the show, like Mr. Schuester pumping everyone up before the Glee Club goes out to perform.

Details: Rayn Murphy called for a boycott of Newsweek after Ramin Setoodeh's infamous article was published.
Jonathan Groff: Yeah, it was so great—we didn't really talk about it that much. If anyone says anything hurtful about anybody in that company or anybody that's his friend, he totally has their back.

Details: Other than that controversy, how has being on Glee changed your life?
Jonathan Groff: I've never been recognized on the street before but ever since Glee that's been happening. A few weeks ago I was walking down the street in London these British girls came up to me and so nicely asked, [affects a British accent]"Are you Jesse St. James?" It shows how far reaching Glee is and it's pretty awesome.

Details: So that positive experience was before the episode you egged Rachel in the face aired?
Jonathan Groff: It was pre-egging...maybe I should get a shield or something.

Source: Details via gleetastic.com