After six seasons of saccharine musical numbers and countless slushies to the face, musical dramedy “Glee” comes to an end on Friday.
The first half of the two-hour series finale (8 p.m. on Fox) will flash back to 2009, revisiting how New Directions came to be. All of the original cast will return (save for Cory Monteith, who died in 2013), plus special guest stars like Geraldo Rivera and Andrew Rannells.
While the show’s popularity has plummeted over the years, some of its stars have just kept rising. Here’s a look at six current and former cast members who hit it big thanks to the show.
Jane Lynch
The journeywoman actress was best known for roles in Christopher Guest films and a breakout turn in “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” before being cast as villainous cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester on “Glee.”
She has converted that scene-stealing performance into a busy resume as a host: “Saturday Night Live” in 2010, the Emmy Awards in 2011, roast master of the “Comedy Central Roast of Roseanne” in 2012, and co-host of NBC’s “New Year’s Eve with Carson Daly” in 2013.
Lynch currently hosts the NBC game show “Hollywood Game Night,” which was renewed for a third season premiering this summer.
Lea Michele
A Broadway actress before playing the cardigan-clad Rachel Berry, Michele is now transitioning to a serious TV actress with a guest spot on the final season of “Sons of Anarchy” and a starring role in Ryan Murphy’s new horror-comedy series “Scream Queens” (premiering this fall on Fox).
In 2014 she also released her first album, “Louder,” and her memoir, “Brunette Ambition” — which debuted at No. 3 on the New York Times best-seller list.
Naya Rivera
Since portraying mean-spirited lesbian cheerleader Santana Lopez, Rivera has landed a recurring role in the third season of Lifetime’s “Devious Maids,” premiering later this year.
She’s also been a frequent guest co-host on “The View,” thanks to her knack for producing viral soundbites, like when she said showering daily is “such a white people thing” in a January episode.
Jonathan Groff
Groff co-starred with Michele in Broadway’s “Spring Awakening” before being cast as Rachel’s glee-club rival and love interest Jesse St. James on “Glee.” Since leaving the show in 2012, he’s starred in HBO’s “Looking,” Murphy’s HBO movie “The Normal Heart” and voiced Kristoff in the animated mega-blockbuster “Frozen.”
He’s currently starring in the Public Theater’s sold-out production of “Hamilton” as King George III.
Darren Criss
A relative unknown 2009 University of Michigan theater graduate — before being cast in “Glee” as rival Warblers crooner Blaine Anderson in 2010 — Criss now has a budding Broadway career. He took over the lead role in “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” from Daniel Radcliffe in 2012 and will next replace John Cameron Mitchell in “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” in April.
He’s also established himself as a singer and composer: He signed with Sony Music, performed at the president’s inaugural ball in 2013, went on an 18-city music tour and penned the “Glee” solo Michele will perform on Friday’s finale.
Grant Gustin
The 25-year-old actor only appeared in seven episodes of “Glee” as Warblers villain Sebastian Smythe, but it was enough to catapult him to leading-man status as star of The CW’s “The Flash.” The freshman superhero drama is currently the network’s No. 1 show, averaging 6 million viewers (with seven days of delayed viewing factored in) and is renewed for a second season.