Lea Michele, ‘healing’ after ‘Glee’, calls ‘Funny Girl’ the ‘toughest fucking role in New York’

Lea Michele claims she’s learned from her past mistakes and working relationships after several of her “Glee” co-stars said Michele was quite “awkward” and difficult to work with.

She now considers herself a leader on and off stage on Funny Girl — a job she calls “the toughest damn role in New York.”

When the bombing claims were first dropped in 2020, Michele apologized for her actions, saying that in a statement at the time she “clearly acted in a way that hurt other people”.

“I think the last two years have been so important for everyone to just sit back and reflect. I made a lot of personal contacts,” said the 36-year-old in an interview magazine published on Tuesday.

“But the most important thing was that everyone just took a step back. More than anything, I’m so grateful to have this opportunity to apply the things I’ve learned over the past 10+ years in a positive way,” she added.

“When I got on ‘Funny Girl,’ I said to myself, ‘If I can’t take my role as leader offstage as important as my role as leader onstage, then I shouldn’t do this show.’ Because that’s always been a struggle for me,” she continued.

“So to have this opportunity now at the age of 36 as a wife and mother – to step into this job that comes with so much pressure and so much responsibility – was a very, very big achievement for me.”

Michele also told Interview that she’s had behind-the-scenes conversations with people who are “incredibly healing and very insightful.”

“I’ve been doing this for a very long time and I will never blame anything for the things I’ve been through in my life,” she explained. “But you can’t ignore or deny these experiences either. They are part of the patchwork of my life. When I got the call that I was going to play Fanny Brice, I said, “Okay, this could be really great for my career, but it’s also helpful to have this opportunity to introduce people to who I am now.”

Michele is now focused on being the best Fanny Brice and mom to her 2-year-old son Ever while performing seven shows a week.

When asked why Michele chose not to do the typical Broadway schedule of eight shows a week, she explained that the role was “the toughest damn role in New York.”

Her predecessor, 29-year-old Beanie Feldstein, was making eight appearances a week.

“My contract said, ‘Would you do seven and Julie? [Benko] do one day?’ It was a great decision, both for me and for the longevity of this show,” Michele said.

Elsewhere in the interview, the Broadway star admitted that while she understands that every single “Funny Girl” performance might not be a “10,” she “puts my perfectionism aside and just shows the shit and makes the best of myself.” can.”