'Glee' Season 4: Chord Overstreet talks Britney Spears tribute and series regular status

Chord Overstreet is officially joining the "Glee" cast for Season 4 as a series regular, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Zap2it caught up with the actor the night before his first day of shooting in his full-time role, and he spilled a few details of what's to come for Sam and the New Directions in Season 4.

First things first: We should probably establish what grade Sam's in. "We don't know what year he is. He's probably as senior," Overstreet speculates.

As a likely senior, Sam and his fellow glee clubbers will be very focused on rebuilding their ranks after the New Directions beat their competition in Chicago. "They're a little bit more arrogant this year, a little bit more full of themselves because they're coming back from winning a national championship. They are little bit big-headed, so reality will probably set in very soon."

Once that nationals glow wears off, finding new glee club members might be more difficult than anticipated. "That's the thing, we're kind of the underdogs. If we were all popular it would be easier to keep it [that way]. It kind of goes back to season 1. It's really cool. The first script that I read is fantastic; they're doing a really good job of blending between New York and Ohio."

The second episode back is the second "Glee" tribute to Britney Spears. Aside from different songs and some epic dance numbers, Overstreet says you can expect a different look from him. "I'm shaving my head. I'm doing meltdown Britney," he explains. "I'm doing a bunch of guyliner and chains and whips -- oh, that's Rihanna 'S&M.' Nevermind."

In all seriousness, Overstreet promises some re-worked versions of Britney's greatest hits. "We're doing some newer Britney stuff -- different takes on it, production-wise. More acoustic influences on some songs. So it's going to be really cool."

Are you excited that Overstreet is returning full time for "Glee" Season 4?

"Glee" returns Thursday, Sept. 13 at 9 p.m. on FOX.