Cory Monteith, who starred as Finn Hudson, died of an accidental heroin overdose in 2013 between the filming of seasons 4 and 5. Mark Salling, who played Noah “Puck” Puckerman, was arrested for possession of child sexual abuse images in 2015. He pleaded guilty in 2017, and in January 2018, he died by suicide. Naya Rivera, who played Santana Lopez, died by accidental drowning in 2020. She and her son had been swimming in a lake near their home in California, and she died saving his life.