Cory Monteith was preparing to quit Hollywood

Cory Monteith was "easing himself out" of Hollywood at the time of his sudden death, according to his mother.

The Glee star was found dead in a hotel room in Vancouver, Canada last July (13) after suffering a drug and alcohol related overdose, and his mother Ann, 63, has now given her first TV interview to talk about the loss of her son.

In the chat, which aired on TV show Good Morning America, Ann revealed Monteith had signed a lease on a property in Vancouver shortly before his death and was preparing to quit Hollywood.

When asked whether Monteith wanted to "give Hollywood up", Ann replied, "I think he was easing himself out of it."

However Ann, who revealed she keeps in touch with Monteith's girlfriend Lea Michele, insisted she doesn't blame the showbiz lifestyle for her son's death, adding, "I don't think blame is a good thing, that was his choice (to take drugs)... I don't think we have power to change the choices they're making. I think with the kind of connection Cory and I had, if we couldn't prevent that situation, I don't have the answer."

Ann also opened up about the actor's past drug troubles, claiming he suffered his first overdose at the age of 15: "He did a code blue, and I think that was the turning point. He had a lot of emotional things he was trying to figure out - lot of it was he really wanted a relationship with his father. I think when a child gets invalidated they keep reaching even harder."