Kevin McHale Has No Plans to See Lea Michele in ‘Funny Girl’

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Do you want to go in new directions? Kevin McHale hasn’t rushed to see former GleeCostar Lea MicheleIn Funny GirlBroadway is still not open.

“I don’t have any plans [to go],” the 34-year-old, who played Artie Abrams on all six seasons of the Fox series, recently told E! News. “I haven’t talked to her in a while, to be honest.”

Michele, 36, stars as Fanny Brice in Broadway’s show. Beanie Feldstein. The Scream Queens alum previously performed several of the musical’s biggest hits — most memorably “Don’t Rain on My Parade” — during her tenure as Rachel Berry on GleeMcHale also knows that she has what it takes for her to shine on stage.

“She’s obviously extremely, extremely talented,” he told the outlet. “I’m sure she’s f–king phenomenal in it. Are you kidding me? She could do the role in her sleep.”

The “And That’s What You Really Missed” podcast cohost reflected on the bonds formed between cast members on the set of the Ryan MurphyThe series aired from 2009 through 2015. “We all grew up together. We grew up doing this really insane and unique thing,” he explained. “It wasn’t even just shooting a TV show together. It was a TV show that became weirdly successful all over the world for different groups of people who didn’t normally have something like this on network TV.”

McHale is still in touch with his former costars even though he may not be in direct contact with Michele Chris Colfer Jenna Ushkowitz, who played Kurt Hummel, Tina Cohen Cohen-Chang, respectively. When it comes time to an official Glee reboot, however, the Texas native doesn’t think fans should get their hopes up.

“I don’t know if that would ever happen as a TV show or a reboot-type thing,” he said. “I don’t think that would ever happen. Well, you know, until Ryan Murphy says so.”

Though it’s been years since the series ended, Glee hasn’t faded from the cultural conversation. 2020 season 6 alum Sammie Ware claimed Michele made her life “a living hell” during filming, going so far as to allege the Spring Awakening star was guilty of using “traumatic microagressions” on set. (Ware’s allegations made headlines amid heightened racial tension in the U.S. after the murder of George Floyd.)

Michele, then pregnant with Ever, addressed the accusations in a long Instagram statement in June 2020. “One of the most important lessons of the last few weeks is that we need to take the time to listen and learn about other people’s perspectives and any role we have played or anything we can do to help address the injustices that they face,” she wrote, noting that she wanted to show “support for our friends and neighbors and communities of color during this really difficult time.”

The actress asserted that she has “never judged others by their background or color of their skin,” adding: “Whether it was my privileged position and perspective that caused me to be perceived as insensitive or inappropriate at times or whether it was just my immaturity and me just being unnecessarily difficult, I apologize for my behavior and for any pain which I have caused. We all can grow and change and I have definitely used these past several months to reflect on my own shortcomings.”

Ware publicly criticized the casting news via social networking when news broke that Michele would play Fanny in Broadway’s production of The Lion King earlier this year. Before she made her appearance Funny GirlThe New York native addressed the rumors regarding her workplace behavior in her debut.

“I have an edge to me. I work really hard,” she told The New York TimesIn a September 1, profile. “I leave no room for mistakes. That level of perfectionism, or that pressure of perfectionism, left me with a lot of blind spots.”