One of our fave new shows this season is Glee - about a high-school glee (or song) club whose members are an unlikely group. One of those high-school singers is named Rachel Berry, a really talented singer whose enthusiasm often makes her seem like a teacher’s pet or a suck-up and causes her to be teased by some of her classmates. That character is played by a very talented young actress named Lea Michele.
Lea From The Bronx
Lea was born in The Bronx, New York (remember that J-Lo song, Jenny From The Block? Jennifer Lopez was born in The Bronx, too). Her name at birth was Lea Michele Sarfati - she obviously dropped her last name and now uses her middle name in its place.
Lea’s dad was a deli owner and her mom was a nurse, so we’re assuming she led a pretty normal, middle-class life growing up in Tenafly, New Jersey. But when she first got on stage – replacing the actress originally slated to play the Young Cosette in the Broadway production of Les Miserables in 1995 – her life became anything but normal as Lea entered the world of acting full force.
On Broadway
Since then, Lea’s starred in a number of Broadway shows, like Ragtime, Fiddler On The Roof and Spring Awakening. Since all these productions were musical theatre shows, it was clear that Lea could sing as well as act. In fact, her powerful voice can be heard on the original cast recordings of all three plays mentioned above.
Glee Club
All that acting and dancing led to Lea’s current starring role as Rachel Berry on the hit TV show Glee - a part that’s pretty much made her a household name. But here are some things you may not know about Lea in real life:
- She won a Grammy Award in 2008 for one of her Broadway roles.
- She lives in L.A. with her two cats, Claude and Sheila.
- She has a whopping EIGHT tattoos!
- She loves the show Biggest Loser.
- She loves coffee and sushi.
- She’s got a major crush on Zac Efron.
