Lea Michele
Lea Michele is an American actor, singer, and musical theatre performer born in The Bronx on August 29, 1986, whose career has moved across stage, television, and film.
She attended Rockland Country Day School and Tenafly High School before studying at New York University. Her stage work began early: she appeared in Les Misérables from 1995 to 1996, followed by Ragtime from 1997 to 1999, and Fiddler on the Roof from 2004 to 2005. The Broadway production of Spring Awakening, in which she performed from 2006 to 2008, became one of her notable stage credits. Her television profile grew substantially when she joined the Fox series Glee in 2009, playing Rachel Berry through the show's run until 2015. That role brought her nominations for an Emmy Award and two Golden Globe Awards, and her contributions to music recorded for the series earned her a Grammy Award nomination as well. She later appeared in the Fox series Scream Queens, further extending her television work. She has also worked as a voice actor and film actor, and received the Time 100 award in recognition of her public profile. Her recorded music falls within the pop genre, performed and released in English.
Throughout her career, Michele has returned repeatedly to musical forms — from Broadway productions rooted in dramatic storytelling to pop recordings connected to her television work — making that intersection of performance and song a consistent thread across her output.
Quotes by Lea Michele
Lea Michele's insights on:
How many managers told me, ‘Get a nose job. You’re not pretty enough?’ But I proved them wrong.
I have been involved with ‘Spring Awakening’ for six years. I am 20 now – I just turned 20 in August – and I originally auditioned when I was 14 years old. I auditioned for Michael Mayer, Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater.
I didn’t know I could sing until I auditioned for ‘Les Miserables.’ My friend was auditioning, and I wanted to audition too.
I don’t think I’ve gone a day in my life without being inspired by Celine Dion. If you would’ve seen me at her concert in Las Vegas – like, I’m surprised I didn’t get kicked out. I was literally sitting at the edge of my seat like the happiest girl in the entire universe.
I’d love to be able to play all different roles, whether it’s Maureen in Rent or Maria in West Side Story. I would just love to be involved in this business forever.
One of my favorite things about ‘Spring Awakening’ is that it is enjoyable and important for both kids and adults to see.
But people are going to say what they want to say. I know who I am, and I’m not perfect.
I make a vegan baked ziti. And even though that doesn’t sound enjoyable, it really is.
But my main thing that I would love to see as a fan of ‘Glee,’ like I said, is to really get into the character and who they are and what they do outside of school. I think that that’s interesting. And then of course the themed stuff and the album episodes are all really cool too.