Lea Michele
Lea Michele Sarfati (/ˈliːə mɪˈʃɛl/ LEE-ə mish-EL;[2] born August 29, 1986)[1] is an American actress, singer, and songwriter. She began her career as a child actress on Broadway, appearing in productions of Les Misérables (1995–1996), Ragtime (1997–1999), Fiddler on the Roof (2004–2005), and Spring Awakening (2006–2008). Michele came to prominence playing Rachel Berry on the Fox series Glee (2009–2015), for which she received nominations for an Emmy Award, two Golden Globe and three Grammy Award nominations for music recorded for the series, also spawning multiple hits on the Billboard charts. Michele subsequently starred as Hester Ulrich on the Fox series Scream Queens (2015–2016) and as Valentina Barella on the ABC sitcom The Mayor (2017).
Lea Michele
- Actress
- singer
- songwriter
- author
1995–present
1
Vocals
1996–present
Michele made her feature film debut in New Year's Eve (2011), and was signed to Columbia Records in 2012. She released her debut single the following year, "Cannonball", followed by her debut studio album, Louder (2014), which debuted at number 4 on the Billboard 200 chart in the United States.[3] Three years later, she released her second studio album, Places (2017), which debuted at number 28 on the Billboard 200. In 2019, she released Christmas in the City, her third studio album, and in 2021 she released her fourth studio album Forever. Michele has also published two books, Brunette Ambition (2014) and You First: Journal Your Way to Your Best Life (2015).
In 2022, Michele returned to Broadway starring as Fanny Brice in the musical revival of Funny Girl, where she received widespread critical acclaim for her performance.
Early life and education
Lea Michele Sarfati was born in The Bronx, New York.[1] She is the only child of Edith Thomasina (née Porcelli), a retired nurse, and Mark David Sarfati, a real estate agent and former delicatessen owner.[4] Her mother is an Italian American with ancestors from Rome and Naples, while her father is a Sephardic Jew with Judaeo-Spanish-speaking ancestors from Thessaloniki, Greece. Most of the Jews in Thessaloniki were killed during The Holocaust, including Michele's great-great-grandmother. [b][5] Michele was raised in her mother's Catholic faith, and has stated that her father "gladly" attended Mass with them. She spent the first four years of her life living in the Bronx, until she and her parents moved to the more suburban area of Tenafly, New Jersey.[4] The family also rented an apartment in Manhattan, where they lived when Michele was performing on Broadway.[6] Michele was educated at Rockland Country Day School for elementary school in Congers, New York.[7]
Michele started using her middle name at an early age. When she went on her first audition, for the role of Young Cosette in Les Misérables, she gave her name as Lea Michele, and has used it professionally ever since. Michele stated that she intentionally left off her surname because she was teased about its pronunciation.[8] During the audition, she sang "Angel of Music" from The Phantom of the Opera – the only musical she knew at the time.[9] Michele went along to support a friend, but ended up landing the part herself.[10] In 1997, Michele was homeschooled while living and working in Toronto, where she performed in a production of Ragtime.[11] For her high school education, Michele attended Tenafly High School.[12] During her time there, she was on the volleyball team, the debate team, and participated in choir.[13] In her teens, when she was not working on the stage, Michele had a part-time job at a bat mitzvah dress shop.[14] She also worked at her father's deli.[15]
Michele refrained from auditioning for Broadway roles during her freshman, sophomore and junior years so she could focus on her education.[6] In the summers of 2000, 2001, and 2002, Michele attended Stagedoor Manor, a performing arts training center in the Catskills.[16] At Stagedoor she was part of the touring troupe Our Time Cabaret, and performed in productions of Side by Side by Sondheim and The Who's Tommy.[17] In her final summer at the camp, Michele was to perform in a production of Sweet Charity, but instead booked the role of Wendla Bergmann in a workshop of Spring Awakening, forcing her to drop out.[17] She was later accepted to New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, but opted instead to continue working professionally on the stage.[18] When Michele was 19 years old, her mother Edith was diagnosed with uterine cancer.[4] Edith received treatment from the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.[19]
Career
1995–2008: Beginnings and stage roles
Michele made her Broadway debut in 1995, at the age of eight, as a replacement in the role of Young Cosette in Les Misérables.[20] Michele was also the understudy for the role of Gavroche. This was followed by the role of the Little Girl in the 1998 original Broadway cast of Ragtime. Michele portrayed the part of the Little Girl for a year in the original Toronto cast, before the production was transferred to Broadway.[21] As a child, she voiced a main character, Christina, in the animated film Buster & Chauncey's Silent Night, released on October 13, 1998. In 2004, Michele began portraying Shprintze in the Broadway revival of the musical Fiddler on the Roof, and understudied the role of Chava.[22] She also performed on the cast recording of the show.[23]
Michele next played the role of Wendla Bergmann in Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik's musical version of Spring Awakening, starring in early workshops and Off-Broadway performances, before finally originating the role in the 2006 Broadway production at the age of twenty. In February 2005, she performed as Wendla at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.[24] Around the same time that Spring Awakening was set to go to Broadway, Michele was offered the role of Éponine Thénardier in the Broadway revival of Les Misérables.[25] She elected to remain with Spring Awakening, which premiered on Broadway in December 2006. For her performance, she was nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical. In January 2008, Michele starred in a concert production of the musical Alive in the World as Phoebe, aiding the Twin Towers Orphan Fund.[26]
In April 2008, she performed a Flops n' Cutz concert at Joe's Pub with her boyfriend at the time, stage actor Landon Beard.[27] She also debuted her solo cabaret Once Upon a Dream at Feinstein's at the Loews Regency. In May 2008, Michele left the Broadway cast of Spring Awakening with her co-star Jonathan Groff. She then performed as Claudia Octavia in a reading of Sheik and Sater's new musical, Nero, in July 2008 at Vassar College.[28] In August 2008, she portrayed Éponine in the Hollywood Bowl's Les Misérables concert, which was directed by Richard Jay-Alexander.[29] She starred alongside Brian Stokes Mitchell as Javert and John Lloyd Young as Marius Pontmercy, each of whom went on to guest star on Glee.[30] While in Los Angeles for the Les Misérables concerts, she sang at the Upright Cabaret at Mark's Restaurant in Hollywood in August 2008.[31] The next month, she performed at the benefit Broadway Chance Style: Up Close & Personal along with stars such as Laura Bell Bundy, Eden Espinosa and Kristoffer Cusick.[32]
Artistry
Influences
One of the most significant influential figures in Michele's life is Barbra Streisand whom she cites as her "role model". Her mother Edith played her films when she was a child.[4] Michele dedicated a chapter in her book Brunette Ambition to Streisand, noting that it is important for people to have someone to look up to. Michele wrote, "I really love her, she's always been such a role model to me. She's someone who has built her career on focusing on what makes her unique and what makes her special."[117] An actress who influenced Michele was Natalie Wood. Michele said that she watched West Side Story as a child and wanted to play the role of Maria.[4]
Actress and singer Audra McDonald has also been an influence on Michele. She told The Fresno Bee, "Audra is probably the best singer in the world – up there with Barbra. I don't think she has any idea what an influence she had on me. I would say 80% of my singing knowledge came from Audra... How to warm up. How to breathe. How to take care of my voice. All of my beliefs are because Audra instilled them in me."[118] Recording artist Alanis Morissette has been an inspiration throughout Michele's career. Morissette's album Jagged Little Pill was the first album Michele purchased, and in a 2014 interview has said she still owns.[15] She said, "I love Alanis Morissette... All of her songs are lyrically so beautiful and vocally she's so strong."[119] Celine Dion has also influenced her as a singer.[120]
Personal life
Michele began working with actor Cory Monteith in 2008, when they were cast as love interests on Glee.[176] In February 2012, the media reported that they had begun dating.[177] They remained together until his death in July 2013.[178]
On April 28, 2018, Michele announced her engagement to businessman Zandy Reich.[179] They were married on March 9, 2019, in Napa, California.[180] On May 2, 2020, Michele announced that she and Reich were expecting their first child.[181] Michele gave birth to a son on August 20, 2020.[182] On March 27, 2024, she announced she was pregnant with her second child.[183]
In September 2019, Michele revealed she had polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). She was diagnosed around the age of 30, having struggled with symptoms such as weight gain and acne since the end of Glee.[184]