Take a look back. Lea MicheleShe is perhaps best known for her role in Rachel Berry in Glee, but the actress’ life in the spotlight started long before that, as she made her debut on Broadway at the age of 8, playing a replacement Young Cosette in Les Misérables. Three years later, she was Little Girl. Ragtime.
She stepped off the stage in 2009, but she was still there. Ryan MurphyRachel Berry was the role she wrote for her, and her love of Broadway was reflected in the character. Michele was included in many of the legendary writer’s and directors projects after the show. In fact, Michele was actually included in many of his projects. GleeShe was appointed the series’ lead in 2015. Scream Queens.
She starred in the horror comedy, in it she was also the original scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis, didn’t include singing and the character was nothing like Rachel Berry. Instead, she wore an invisible neck brace and tried desperately to fit in with other It-Girls at school.
“Honestly, having been offered this role, I knew nothing. But I did trust Ryan implicitly that he would create something for me that would be the most incredible opportunity to show people a different side and a different color,” the actress told Entertainment Weekly2015 “And the first and only thing he said to me about the project was, ‘neck brace.’ And I was like, ‘Well, I guess no better way to show people something completely different from Rachel Berry than a neck brace.’ The thing that I’m most grateful for with this character is the opportunity to show people a completely different side.”
Michele has also released three albums featuring three very different sounds. Her first album, LouderThe book,, was published in 2014. It was created after Cory Montieth, her boyfriend, died from an accidental overdose in 2014.
“Listening to it, it’s therapeutic and difficult,” she told Billboard about the song “If You Say So,” which she wrote about Monteith. “It will always represent the most devastating thing that’s ever happened to me in my whole life. Music is therapy. It’s been therapy for me in the entire grieving process and in my entire life. I’m grateful that Sia collaborated on that song with me and it’s a moment in my life … music has just been so important and so helpful to me this whole year.”
Scroll through the gallery below for more on Michele’s life:
