GleeStar Recalls the 'Ridiculously Strange Story' of Landing His Role on the Series with a Broken Neck

Mar. 15, 2025

Left: Stephen Tobolowsky as Sandy Ryerson in ‘Glee’; Right: tephen Tobolowsky attends the Los Angeles premiere of “Poolman” at Vista Theatre on Apr. 24, 2024 in Los Angeles.Photo:FOX Image Collection via Getty; Monica Schipper/Getty

FOX Image Collection via Getty; Monica Schipper/Getty

Stephen Tobolowsky attends the WORDTheatre Gala Fundraiser at Santa Monica Bay Woman’s Club on Nov. 2, 2023 in Santa Monica, California.Unique Nicole/Getty

Unique Nicole/Getty

After the incident, Tobolowsky returned to the States and met with a doctor who informed him that he had what the doctor called a “fatal injury,” despite the fact that he was, in fact, alive.

“ ‘You want to know why you’re alive?' ” Tobolowsky recalls the doctor’s question. “‘You’re alive because most people have a cervical spine that curves like this, but yours is freakish and it’s the opposite. So your neck just broke, but you did not break your spinal cord.’ ”The recovery was going to be long and arduous, requiring three months of nothing.“Near the end of my three months, when I am still unable to do anything, I get a script for this show calledGlee. My first audition in months, and I still have a broken neck” Tobolowsky says. “I read the script and my first impression ofGleewas, ‘Oh my God.’ And all I could say was it was so joyful. The script was so fun, so joyful.”

Will (Matthew Morrison, L) tries to stop Sandy (Stephen Tobolowsky, C) and Sue (Jane Lynch, R) from sabotaging the Glee Club in the “Preggers” episode of ‘Glee’.FOX Image Collection via Getty

FOX Image Collection via Getty

“I was gonna lie to everybody, and now you’ve given me a chance not to lie,” Tobolowsky tells the assistant.So Tobolowsky returned the next day. This time, he entered the room with Murphy and the rest of the producers for his audition before Murphy addressed the elephant in the room.

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.“‘I heard a very interesting story about you from yesterday,’” he recalls Murphy saying.Tobolowsky admitted his fault but promised to give the audition his all. He took off the neck brace and performed his scene and his song before putting it back on. He found out almost immediately he got the part.“It was the broken neck story that probably got me on toGlee,” Tobolowsky says.

source: people.com