Lights, camera, action. Singing, dancing and competing. Mark Salling, 35, was the star actor, Noah “Puck” Puckerman, from Glee, and studied at the Los Angeles College of Music before getting a job as a guitar teacher. Though what happened to him next would affect him for the rest of his life.

In December of 2015, Salling was arrested for possession of child pornography, having more than 25,000 pictures and 600 videos, named a two-count indictment in May 2016, then pleaded guilty to the charge on Oct. 4, 2017. Salling managed to strike a plea deal on Dec. 18 and was due to be sentenced in March of 2018. It was said he was supposed to spend anywhere from four to seven years in prison.

“I was really surprised,” senior Sophia Levorchick said. “My friend told me when we were in ASL and at first I thought it was a joke because she jokes with me all the time and she showed me the article. It’s just crazy because you wouldn’t ever think anything is wrong, then someone goes and takes their own life then you are like wait, is there something everyone could have done, is there something that could have gone differently, what happened, or what drove this person to end their own life.”

Unfortunately, before Salling was supposed to serve his sentence, he took his life by hanging himself on Jan. 30, 2018. Former Glee cast members and crew including Matthew Morrison, Paris Barclay, Tim Davis, Jenna Ushkowitz, Jane Lynch and Iqbal Theba all shared their love for Salling and condolences to his family over social media.  

“My first thoughts were to all of his friends that were also in the cast of Glee,” sophomore Riley Becker-Poff said. “I felt bad for them because Cory Monteith had also taken his own life.”

According to healthline, depression is the top risk factor and about 90 percent have a mental illness at the time of their death. Anxiety, sleep issues, behavioral issues and weight gain or loss are all symptoms of depression.  

“I feel like the character he played on Glee was a very tough person and he didn’t really let anything get to him even though in the show they obviously showed that stuff did get to him, but to all his friends in the show, he didn’t ever show that anything got to him and everything was perfectly fine,” Levorchick said.

Telling whether someone has depression or not can be a difficult thing because they usually try to act as if everything is fine. Depression is a mood disorder, and people who have it usually feel like they are helpless and hopeless, or are self-loathing. It can interfere with your everyday life, such as your ability to eat, work, sleep and be happy.

“I think a lot of times even in real life a lot of people who are tough on the outside are not and then stuff like that happens and it’s a big shock to everyone,” Levorchick said.

Some people believe in giving the person who made the mistake a chance to change. They are often given some kind of compensation like a job or they do community service hours.

 “I would try my best, everyone makes mistakes, and everybody deserves a second chance,” Levorchick said.