Holly Holliday is a recurring fictional character from the Fox musical comedy-drama series, Glee. Portrayed by Gwyneth Paltrow, the character appeared in three episodes during the show's second season and two episodes of the fifth. This was Paltrow's first role on television. Holly was developed by Glee co-creator Ryan Murphy, a personal friend of Paltrow's, who suggested that she showcase her vocal and dancing abilities ahead of the release of her film Country Strong, in which she played a country singer. Introduced as a substitute teacher who takes the place of glee club director Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison) while he is ill, she forms a romantic bond with Will, but decides to break up with him and takes a teaching job in another town after realizing that he is still in love with Emma Pillsbury (Jayma Mays).
Paltrow's debut performance attracted positive commentary and earned her a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series in 2011. Many reviewers praised her subsequent portrayal of Holly in the "Sexy" episode, preferring it to her first appearance in "The Substitute" installment, though they disagreed over how Paltrow was used. Her final appearance in the "A Night of Neglect" episode was met with divergent reactions. She performed several musical numbers during her appearances, which include critically acclaimed renditions of "Forget You" by Cee Lo Green and "Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac. Paltrow was additionally featured in the 2011 concert film Glee: The 3D Concert Movie. In 2014, she reprised the role for the show's hundredth episode and the following episode.
Storylines Holly is a substitute teacher who makes her first appearance on Glee in the second season's seventh episode, "The Substitute". She is filling in at McKinley High School for the ailing Spanish teacher Will (Matthew Morrison), who is also director of the glee club, New Directions. Club member Kurt (Chris Colfer), who had seen her perform "Conjunction Junction" when she subbed for his English class, asks her to also take over Will's glee club rehearsals. Instead of assigning songs, Holly asks the club members what kind of music they would like to perform, and when Puck (Mark Salling) suggests "Forget You", she sings the song and they all join in, except for Rachel (Lea Michele). Holly later wins her over by asking Rachel what she would like to sing that she hasn't been able to, and they perform a number from Chicago together. Holly bonds with Sue (Jane Lynch), who is the acting principal with Principal Figgins (Iqbal Theba) also out sick, and Sue fires the still-ailing Will, making Holly the full-time director of the glee club. When he recovers, Will confronts Holly at school, but she is unwilling to give up her new position. She later discovers she is in over her head when Mercedes (Amber Riley) gets in trouble, and Holly turns to Will for help. She reveals that she was once a more serious teacher like Will until a student punched her in the face, at which point she became far more free spirited. Holly ultimately returns to substitute teaching and Will is reinstated. He assigns the glee club to perform "Singin' in the Rain" on his return, but faced with their dismay at being given another old song, he asks for Holly's help to modernize it, and they all perform a mash-up of it with Rihanna's "Umbrella".
Holly later returns to McKinley High as a substitute sex education teacher in the season's fifteenth episode, "Sexy". She informs Will that the members of New Directions are woefully ignorant about sex. He invites her to teach the glee club about safe sex, and she performs a rendition of Joan Jett's "Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)", much to the chagrin of the new head of the celibacy club, guidance counselor Emma (Jayma Mays). Holly advises Puck and Lauren (Ashley Fink) that the sex tape they plan to make is illegal, as both are minors, and helps Brittany (Heather Morris) and Santana (Naya Rivera) start to come to terms with their true feelings for each other, later performing "Landslide" with them in front of the club. When Emma's choice of "Afternoon Delight" as an abstinence song reveals her sexual naivete, her husband Carl (John Stamos) asks Holly for an appointment for him and Emma to work out issues in their sex life. During the counseling session, he reveals that Emma is still a virgin, and in answer to a question from Holly, Emma admits that she may still have feelings for Will. At the end of the episode, Holly begins a relationship with Will.
Holly makes her final second-season appearance two episodes later in "A Night of Neglect". She is still dating Will, and suggests to him that in order to help raise funds for the academic decathlon team, the glee club should present a benefit concert at the school that will feature songs by "neglected" artists. Her contribution to the benefit is a performance of Adele's "Turning Tables". At the end of the episode, realizing that he is still in love with Emma, Holly breaks up with Will and takes a several-month substitute teaching job in another town.
In January 2014, it was confirmed that Gwyneth Paltrow would reprise her role as Holly for the show's special two-part hundredth episode, among other past guest stars. In the episode, Holly slides through the class after being invited by an apologetic April Rhodes (Kristin Chenoweth) to keep the spirit of the glee kids and alumni up by performing. She refuses to follow Will's assignment of redoing the songs they performed, and instead sings "Happy". She and April vow to try to save the glee club after seeing Will giving a pep talk to the alumni. In the following episode, it is revealed that she and Sue remain best friends and auditioned for The Amazing Race together, going by the name "Team Gorgeous". She asks Sue to give glee club a chance to slip onto other clubs at school and Sue gives her a week to try. After her performance of "Party All the Time" got parents mad, Will told her to stop trying as he has accepted that Glee is over. Holly enlists Artie Abrams (Kevin McHale) to make a video for Will and his unborn baby filled with the testimonies of glee club members and alumni about what he and the glee club mean to them. After Will performs one last time with the kids, Holly asks April to go on a gay boy cruise so that they will get all the attention as they will be the only ladies there. April answers with Holly's signature phrase "I thought you'd never ask".
Development
The role of Holly was created by series co-creator Ryan Murphy specifically for Paltrow, a personal friend. Murphy suggested that she showcase her vocal and dancing talent ahead of the December 2010 release of the film Country Strong, in which Paltrow plays a country singer. Murphy said of Paltrow, "Gwyneth is a great singer. She's done it a little bit but I really want to show it off and show everyone how great she is." It was not the first time Paltrow had sung on screen: she played a karaoke singer in the movie Duets in 2000, and had a number one hit in Australia for her duet of "Cruisin' from its soundtrack.
The character was originally set to appear for two episodes, as a love interest for Will Schuester in a love quadrangle with Will, Emma and Carl. Her debut was subsequently reduced to a single episode, and the relationship plot removed. After "The Substitute" episode aired, Murphy expressed interest in having Paltrow return with the right storyline. A few months later, she confirmed she would be seen again on the series, and was initially supposed to appear in episodes fifteen and sixteen, but instead appeared in episodes fifteen and seventeen, "Sexy" and "A Night of Neglect", the second of these being her final appearance.
Paltrow initially said about a possible return to Glee in its third season: "No, I don't think so. I don't think I should. Though it's honestly been one of the best jobs I've ever had." She did later state that she would love to come back, and said that Holly was "probably the most fun character I've ever gotten to play". Murphy stated before the second season ended that he had plans for Paltrow to return in season three, though nothing specific has been mentioned since the beginning of the third season. Paltrow, however, was featured in Glee: The 3D Concert Movie after being filmed while she performed "Forget You" as Holly in the 2011 Glee Live! In Concert! tour performances of June 16 and 17, 2011.
Critical reception Paltrow's performance in "The Substitute" episode earned her a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series and attracted critical praise. Indeed, at the time, Entertainment Weekly Tim Stack and E! Online's Kristin dos Santos called her appearance Emmy-worthy, with the former rating it among her best performances, and the latter stating that Holly received "some of Glee best-ever one-liners. The A.V. Club Emily VanDerWerff wrote that Holly injected an effortless sense of fun, despite much of her plot being nonsensical. The Atlantic Meghan Brown commented that Paltrow "brought a massive spark to what could have been a one-note role", and her co-author Kevin Fallon wrote that her energetic performance saved an episode that might have been "in shambles without her presence". Robert Canning of IGN noted that Paltrow's casting could have been distracting, but instead she fit the role "seamlessly". Brett Berk of Vanity Fair found her "surprisingly great", and James Poniewozik of Time stated that while her casting was somewhat distracting, she was able to make Holly a sympathetic character without overdoing her neediness and commitment-phobia. However, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) took exception Paltrow's history classroom scene where she role-plays as Mary Todd Lincoln, which it stated "mocked and trivialized bipolar disorder".
Several critics preferred Paltrow's return in the "Sexy" installment to her initial appearance. The Washington Post Emily Yahr felt that she was better integrated into this episode, and Raymund Flandez of the Wall Street Journal called her return "infinitely better" than her first appearance: "Back then, she was a puzzle, a loony bin. Here, she's sly and quick-witted, appropriately adult and seductively saucy in an episode that showcased more of her comedic timing, than her stiff dance skills. All the better for us." Fallon wrote that Paltrow was "if possible, even sassier and sultrier" than before, and felt that she served to anchor a busy episode. In contrast, Sandra Gonzalez of Entertainment Weekly had mixed feelings about Holly and believed that she dominated screen time. VanDerWerff liked Paltrow's acting, but disliked Holly's interaction with Will, saying they lacked "chemistry". Soraya Roberts of the Daily News disliked her return for prolonging Will and Emma's separation, branding Holly a home-wrecker. She commented that while Paltrow's appearance in "The Substitute" was "relatively fresh", in "Sexy" she was "acting almost like a cardboard cutout version of her former self, overly enunciating her lines [and] treading carefully around her choreography". Poniewozik found all of Paltrow's scenes "labored and ridiculous", and wrote that the actress failed to bring an element of realism to her character. Canning said that "the moment she came on screen the whole episode lit up", and the episode was a "fun and funny showcase for everybody's favorite recurring character", and Futterman echoed him when she called Paltrow "our new favorite cast member".