‘Glee’ Creator and Loyola Alum Ian Brennan Speaks to Students

Before writing and producing hit series “Glee” and “Monsters,” Ian Brennan got his start running lines in Loyola’s Underground Laboratory Theatre.

Around 80 students gathered into room 125 of the Mundelein Center on the snowy morning of Feb. 15 to witness Loyola alum Ian Brennan (“Scream Queens,” “The Watcher”) trace his path from Loyola’s Lake Shore campus to the starry hills of Hollywood.

The Mount Prospect, Ill. native graduated from Loyola’s Department of Fine and Performing Arts in 2000. Studying as an actor, Brennan said his supportive parents gave him the confidence to turn performing into a career.

“Every one of you probably have somebody in your life who’s like, ‘Theater? Why would you do that?’” Brennan said. “Fuck them.”

Brennan said Loyola’s most memorable teachings were the Jesuit practice of logic, reasoning and preparation. Before graduating, Brennan said he was already cutting his teeth in the Chicago theater scene whenever possible.

“I was getting a lot of work, like actually growing,” Brennan said. “It was tricky to still be involved with the volunteer theater department here, but it felt right and it felt important.”

Brennan said he tried not to keep a five-year plan in mind after graduation. Rather than set weighty expectations on himself, Brennan said he committed to what was immediately possible, picking up every casting call that came and ensuring he was first in line.

“There’s no such thing as a big break — they happen all the time,” Brennan said. “There’s so little you can control in a career like ours so you control the things you can.”

After stints at two of Chicago’s most noteworthy performing arts venues — Steppenwolf Theatre Company and Goodman Theatre — Brennan set his sights on New York City. The decision came after noticing very few high-profile productions at the time premiered in Chicago.

To form a safety net when moving, Brennan said he sent 80 priority mail envelopes of his resume, headshots and highlighted positive reviews of his work to talent agencies. Brennan said two got back and one signed him.

“I went and I didn’t tell anybody I was moving,” Brennan said. “So that if it was a disaster in six months, I could come back and nobody would know the difference.”

It was in New York where Brennan heard of a scandal at his alma mater Prospect High School, where the theater teacher was fired and arrested for sexually abusing students, according to The Chicago Tribune. Brennan said he learned of a similar circumstance at another school from a friend, where a male teacher and student had an affair and remained together after the fact.

“That’s the first scene of a movie that has never been written,” Brennan said.

Brennan said he wrote “Glee” as a dark comedy, coming-of-age film inspired by the incident — written into the series’ pilot. Brennan said he shopped the script around New York to anyone who would read it.

Fresh off the success of the 2003 drama series “Nip/Tuck,” showrunner Ryan Murphy coincidentally attended the same gym as one of Brennan’s friends. After being handed the “Glee” film script, it was off to the races to get the project picked up.

“It was like being thrown in the deep end,” Brennan said. “We were all going to play football, but the football was mine.”

Brennan said his success didn’t just come from luck — though it played a large part — but also from constantly being prepared for opportunity.

“I was putting myself in a position to be lucky,” Brennan said. “If you run that same model a thousand times, it happens once.”

Student and staff attendees spanned film and theater studies, including Loyola’s Director of Theater Mark Lococo. Lococo said Brennan’s commitment to detail during the panel was emblematic of Loyola’s teachings.

“The moments described in your monologue are just so  — Jesuit,” Lococo said.

Brennan said his career path was irregular, yet oddly consistent with the entertainment industry. 

“Each one of you, should you pursue a career in the arts, every one of them will be different,” Brennan said.

Brennan said “Glee” was an outlet for his frustration with high school theater, and how the lack of control a student performer has can turn passion into a chore.

“The screenplay for ‘Glee’ was not about how great glee club was, I fucking hated show choir,” Brennan said. “Every line Sue Sylvester said, I wrote.”

Brennan said he looks back at the show as a blessing — but not one he’d revisit. He said it’s brought both tremendous opportunities as well as grief, given the series of deaths that befell cast members.

“It was a really hard time,” Brennan said. “It was great in so many ways, started so great, but just got so fraught and so tragic and so sad.” 

The third season of Brennan’s anthology true crime series “Monsters” will follow Wisconsin serial killer Ed Gein, the real-life inspiration behind fictitious murderers Norman Bates, Buffalo Bill and Leatherface. Season three has yet to be given an official release date.

Both seasons of “Monsters” have drawn ire for their dramatic interpretations of real events, according to Forbes. Brennan said his role as a writer isn’t to retell history people know, but to explore what isn’t.

Online discourse isn’t new to Brennan. First airing in 2009, “Glee” premiered during the come-up of social media and online fanfare.

“Twitter became the bane of our existence,” Brennan said. “And yes, Lea Michele can read.”

In spite of emotional hurdles and a winding career path, Brennan currently has eight projects at various stages of development. Brennan said aspects of his success can be applied to any Hollywood hopeful. 

“Put yourself in a position to be lucky,” Brennan said. “Keep buying lottery tickets — but don’t actually buy lottery tickets.”