Katie Lowes Laments About Not Getting Cast inGleeDespite Auditioning "Only 1,000 Times"

Mar. 15, 2025

Katie Lowes and the cast of ‘Glee’.Photo:Getty;Shutterstock

Getty;Shutterstock

Katie Lowesis still bummed she never managed to score a role onGlee.“I auditioned forGlee, like, only 1,000 times and never got cast,” theScandalstar toldGleealumsKevin McHaleandJenna Ushkowitzon their re-watch podcastAnd That’s What Your Really Missedthis week.Lowes even remembers the song she sang for her auditions. “I do remember singing Lisa Loeb, though,” she said. “I sang ‘Stay’ for something.”Similarly, McHale and Ushkowitz, both majorScandalfans, said they’ve never made it onto aShondaland show.Katie Lowes in ‘Scandal’.Eric McCandless/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty“I’ve auditioned a bunch though,” McHale said. “I remember Katie told me that the scripts are always longer than they need to be, and so I gotta talk really fast.”Lowes pointed out that that’s something that bothGleeand Shondaland shows have in common.“I remember the timbre was, like, similar in our language and the way that we would all — obviously, ours was a comedy and yours was way serious. But still, like, you know, we were still talking very quickly,” Ushkowitz agreed.Despite never getting cast inGlee, Lowes did get to hang out with some of the cast when Ushkowitz,Amber Rileyand Brooke Lipton, the show’s choreographer, came to visitScandal’s set during one of the ABC drama’s early seasons.Katie Lowes in December 2023.Vivien Killilea/Getty“I think Columbus [Short] knew Brooke through the dance world, and that’s how we got on the set,” Ushkowitz recalled. “She’s like, ‘Do you wanna go over at lunch?’”“That makes sense because we were never allowed visitors ever,” Lowes said of being onScandal. “And nobody ever let visitors happen except forColumbus Short. So that would track.”“He brought Ne-Yo, he brought — oh,Lindsay Mendezcame to visit. Like, he just brought some real heavy hitters.Youguys…” she added.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 juicy celebrity news to compelling human-interest stories.Lowes later explained thatScandal’s producers generally “kept it really tight, I think just because they didn’t want leaks of plot getting out.”Lea Michele, Jenna Ushkowitz, Kevin McHale and Becca Tobin in ‘Glee’.FOX Image Collection via GettyUshkowitz said that the derth of guests on theScandalset sounded like a nice contrast to theGleeset. “We had a lot of guests,” she recalled. “It was from execs to…competition winners to family to friends. Like, there was consistently a huge village, all the time.”McHale, meanwhile, said he was still disappointed he had to miss theGleecrew’sScandalfieldtrip. “I’m bitter,” he joked. “I got called in to do something — maybe I had to record — and I couldn’t go. And it was one of those moments where I’m like, ‘I’m very lucky to be employed. I’m happy I get to go sing.’ ”

Katie Lowesis still bummed she never managed to score a role onGlee.

“I auditioned forGlee, like, only 1,000 times and never got cast,” theScandalstar toldGleealumsKevin McHaleandJenna Ushkowitzon their re-watch podcastAnd That’s What Your Really Missedthis week.

Lowes even remembers the song she sang for her auditions. “I do remember singing Lisa Loeb, though,” she said. “I sang ‘Stay’ for something.”

Similarly, McHale and Ushkowitz, both majorScandalfans, said they’ve never made it onto aShondaland show.

Katie Lowes in ‘Scandal’.Eric McCandless/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

“I’ve auditioned a bunch though,” McHale said. “I remember Katie told me that the scripts are always longer than they need to be, and so I gotta talk really fast.”

Lowes pointed out that that’s something that bothGleeand Shondaland shows have in common.

“I remember the timbre was, like, similar in our language and the way that we would all — obviously, ours was a comedy and yours was way serious. But still, like, you know, we were still talking very quickly,” Ushkowitz agreed.

Despite never getting cast inGlee, Lowes did get to hang out with some of the cast when Ushkowitz,Amber Rileyand Brooke Lipton, the show’s choreographer, came to visitScandal’s set during one of the ABC drama’s early seasons.

Katie Lowes in December 2023.Vivien Killilea/Getty

Vivien Killilea/Getty

“I think Columbus [Short] knew Brooke through the dance world, and that’s how we got on the set,” Ushkowitz recalled. “She’s like, ‘Do you wanna go over at lunch?’”

“That makes sense because we were never allowed visitors ever,” Lowes said of being onScandal. “And nobody ever let visitors happen except forColumbus Short. So that would track.”

“He brought Ne-Yo, he brought — oh,Lindsay Mendezcame to visit. Like, he just brought some real heavy hitters.Youguys…” she added.

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 juicy celebrity news to compelling human-interest stories.

Lowes later explained thatScandal’s producers generally “kept it really tight, I think just because they didn’t want leaks of plot getting out.”

Lea Michele, Jenna Ushkowitz, Kevin McHale and Becca Tobin in ‘Glee’.FOX Image Collection via Getty

FOX Image Collection via Getty

Ushkowitz said that the derth of guests on theScandalset sounded like a nice contrast to theGleeset. “We had a lot of guests,” she recalled. “It was from execs to…competition winners to family to friends. Like, there was consistently a huge village, all the time.”

McHale, meanwhile, said he was still disappointed he had to miss theGleecrew’sScandalfieldtrip. “I’m bitter,” he joked. “I got called in to do something — maybe I had to record — and I couldn’t go. And it was one of those moments where I’m like, ‘I’m very lucky to be employed. I’m happy I get to go sing.’ ”

source: people.com