This is something that has been bugging me for a while.

As a fan of Glee (or as much of a fan as you can be while hating it with a passion), it irritates me when people who are not fans of the show, or even people who have never watched the show, judge the actors simply for being on Glee.

With the recent success of The Hunger Games film, many people have been thinking hard about who should be cast in Catching Fire. By far the most discussed character in this ongoing debate is Finnick Odair, and let’s just say that when people (like me) love characters like Finnick, when it comes to casting them people can get a tad passionate. Which is all good and fine until people start being offensive and downright rude to some of the actors who have been pegged to have a chance at playing him. Namely, one Grant Gustin, currently playing Sebastian Smythe on the aforementioned Glee.

There are many, many people (me included) who think that he would do wonderfully as Finnick. He looks the part, he can act extremely well (in my opinion) and as shown in the coffee shop scene in the most recent Glee episode, he has the emotional depth to really get into Finnick’s character. There are also many, many people who are strongly opposed to him being Finnick. The majority of these people either have their own opinion on who they would like to see playing Finnick, or they just think that Grant isn’t right for the role.

Which I completely respect, everyone is entitled to their own opinions. What I can’t respect though, is the small percentage of people who do not want Grant cast in Catching Fire simply because he made his breakout on Glee, the show that most people love to hate. (Also worth mentioning is Naya Rivera who’s name has been thrown around for the role of Johanna Mason).

I have seen many, many posts on social networking sites where people claim to not want Grant, Naya, or any other Glee actor cast in any Hunger Games movie because they ‘don’t want Glee mixed up with Hunger Games‘, as though being an actor on Glee automatically makes them ‘unworthy’ of being a part of something as amazing and revolutionary as The Hunger Games. It is unfair, and frankly cruel to the actors who are just doing their job, and who may actually surprise some people if they cared to look past the hypothetical GLEE tattooed across their foreheads. I have even seen people saying that they will ‘boycott Catching Fire‘ if anyone from Glee is cast.

Well, this is my message to them: Don’t judge an actor by their show.