'Glee' beauty Naya Rivera, who plays the feisty character of Santana Lopez, has revealed that the show has changed so much over the past year that it feels entirely different.

The original cast have graduated from McKinley High, where the series began, and have moved on to college or other adult pursuits, and Lopez explained to Vulture magazine that she's "sad" that it's taken such a different direction:

"It does feel like a different show and sometimes I get really sad about it. We shoot on the same soundstage, but there's this big door that separates the two worlds, so on my lunch breaks I'll go over there and see [Kevin McHale] and [Jenna Ushkowitz] and everybody I haven't seen, like, 'I miss you guys! What are you doing?'"

She added that because they film on different sets, she feels 'out of the loop' where cast gossip and insider information is concerned: "I have no idea what they're doing! I have no idea about the gossip and drama with the new kids. I feel like I've really grown up because we used to have all that stuff and now we don't."

When asked about her own longevity on the well-loved TV musical drama, Lopez confessed that she would love to stay on the cast, but has other career aspirations outside of 'Glee' that she wants to focus on: "You never really know what they plan on doing. I think we've been on the show a really long time; I wasn't really sure what they were going to do with Santana but I think that her story line is evolving and there is more to tell. So yeah, I'd absolutely be down to be around for some portion of that."

"But there is the album stuff that I desperately want to get done. It's just a matter of finding a balance. We won't get into it until after we wrap at the end of April. We're getting the longest hiatus we've ever had this year, so I'm super excited about that."

Watch Rivera perform 'Make No Mistake, She's Mine' on 'Glee' here: