The actress tells THR that her character's recovery will be slow and gradual with some unexpected flirtation in her future.
[Warning: This story contains spoilers from Tuesday's Glee episode, "Big Brother."]
In less than three seasons, Glee's Quinn Fabray (Dianna Agron) has had an unusually cruel run.
The one-time queen bee of McKinley High was pregnant her sophomore year and gave up Beth, her daughter with Puck (Mark Salling), for adoption. Then, in her junior year, her past as Lucy, an overweight and unpopular girl, was revealed when she made an unsuccessful run for prom queen.
Now, the former head Cheerio must rise to the top again following a severe car crash that left her wheelchair bound with a compressed spine (don't drive and text, kids!).
"Quinn is no stranger to problems in her life," Agron tells The Hollywood Reporter. "She's a very strong girl and she has to be to have prevailed through all the things that she's gone through," she says.
During Tuesday's "Big Brother" episode, it was revealed that the Yale-bound Quinn returned to McKinley with a positive attitude despite her prognosis, telling her fellow New Directions members that she'll be on her feet again by Nationals.
"She's convinced that she'll be fine," she says. "She's in the mindset that absolutely nothing will change: That she's going to still going to be fine at prom or graduation."
While Artie (Kevin McHale) did his best to drive home the point that her prognosis may indeed be more serious than she's allowing herself to believe, Quinn is in denial and claims to already be starting to regain feeling in her legs, refusing to accept the possible outcome.
"As a viewer you'll really feel the weight of the repercussions of something like her situation," Agron says, noting the story line hit particularly close to home as a handful of her high school classmates were involved in serious car accidents caused either by drinking and driving, racing or texting while behind the wheel.
For Quinn, she explains, the journey of what's to come is only just beginning. "It's a slow realization that this is not the end all; this is not something you would ever wish for your life. So [Quinn's journey] is going to be slow and gradual."
As the stoic survivor who refuses to be the subject of anyone's sympathy begins to accept the impact of the crash, Agron teases Quinn's walls will begin to come down with what she deems is a very accurate portrayal. "If you just sit with her and watch it I'm told it's realistic," she says.
With Quinn and Artie already spending more time together as he attempts to support her in her potential recovery, Agron was tight-lipped when pressed if the characters' friendship had the possibility to turn into romance, noting only that "there are a few possibilities" for love in her character's future.
Which could mean continued time with the newest member of New Directions, Joe Hart (The Glee Project's Samuel Larson).
"She doesn't really think that anybody is interested in her for more than friendship," she says. "She is assuming that everyone who is showing her extra love and support is there purely because they either to feel sorry for her or really want to be a shoulder to lean on. So it's unexpected."
How do you think Quinn will handle her recovery? What do you think about a potential Quinn-Joe pairing? Do you think her friendship with Artie could blossom into something more? Hit the comments with your thoughts. Glee airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on Fox.
Chris Colfer's movie debut, Struck By Lightning, doesn't premiere until later this month at the Tribeca Film Festival, but the Glee star is already well on his way to making his second flick.
