Count me in. I've not worked with her, but very close friends have and I have heard nothing but bad stories. Sneering about how she was offered a replacement role in a Broadway show and saying how she "doesn't do replacements" (this was pre-Glee, by the way) to young, struggling actors. Amongst other more galling things that I won't be repeating here.
And all this is all pre-Glee "stardom", so it's not like it all suddenly went to her head.
If she's such a bitch/diva, how come she's still friends with most of her Spring Awakening co-stars? You'd think that once they are not working together anymore, they'd want to stay away from her... no? Yet, she's still good friends with Jonathan Groff, Skylar Astin, Remy Zaken and John Gallagher Jr...
She's also very close to most of the cast of Glee. Granted, they are still working together, but I don't get how someone who is hard to work with and an insupportable diva would be friends with pretty much all of her co-stars.
Not saying this is true at all. But, people can pretend to be your friends too. They also could not like something about you either if they do genuinely like you.
Maybe I don't consider «being a diva» the same thing as most people. I do think Lea Michele has a very big ego (and I say this even as a fan), but I doubt she's hard to work with and for me that's what a diva is : someone who's hard to work with, who has a lot of demands and makes it hard for the crew and cast to be around her.
When they were filming a scene in the hotel lobby during the New York episode, I got to stand on the side and watch for three hours while they filmed a minute and a half single shot. After the three hours someone yelled "cut" and the actors slowly started to walk away. A moment later someone said "Lea, we need you back for a moment." She SCREAMED "No, You said cut. I am done" and stormed off. If that is not a diva, I do not know what is.
oh dear another story abot a difficult actress who is young beautiful and talented...NO BIG WHOOP!...as long as she keeps delivering on stage or on tv or in concert fans will love her...after all she espires to be Barbra Streisand and that DIVA/BITCH/PERFECTIONEST AND ULTIMATELY ONE OF THE GREAT ARTIST OF HER TIME has been around for over 50 years in a career any young artist would want to emulate...
so sue!...OFF WITH HER HEAD! or something...all i know is i watch GLEE and love her singing and her talent...the rest i leave to you broadway mavens to discuss
From what I heard from my friends in the Spring Awakening cast while the show was going on, Lea's a little high strung and full of herself. It's ego more than anything. She can be abrasive, though, and negative stories have a way of sticking around. She wasn't the nicest person in the world when I met her, but I didn't think she was intentionally rude or nasty.
Firsthand account - She is nasty. She is mean. She is a flat out diva and no, she doesn't care where she throws a tantrum.. or when.. and yes, a significant portion of tales come from pre-Glee days and a good number from before Spring Awakening was a hot Broadway ticket. Yes, you can name a few S.A. cast members that she remains friends or friendly with, but with a little hunting, you will find far more who keep a very wide distance from her and even a few Glee cast members who flat out do NOT like her. Have you seen some of the group cast interviews from season 1? Everyone laughs and jokes, then as soon as Lea's mouth opens, it's like you dumped cold water on them all. (Yes, she was a nightmare when the full Glee cast filmed the nationals episode in New York.) One of the best firsthand accounts I heard was the teen girl nominated for an Oscar (for Winter's Bone, I think) on the Tonight Show.. she told Jay Leno about filming some things for the movie on the same lot Glee is filmed on and what a big Gleek she is.. she saw Lea Michele hanging around outside and tried to say hello, but Lea called security to escort her away as soon as a hello was uttered.
Wouldn't that been funny if she had snubbed Jennifer Lawrence? Jennifer's starpower (status, money, etc) in 2012 far exceeds Lea Michelle. I saw Spring Awakening, didn't stage door. Have no first hand knowledge of her. But usually there is some truth, when multiple stories are mentioned.
"From what I heard from my friends in the Spring Awakening cast while the show was going on, Lea's a little high strung and full of herself. It's ego more than anything. She can be abrasive, though, and negative stories have a way of sticking around. She wasn't the nicest person in the world when I met her, but I didn't think she was intentionally rude or nasty."
Every time this comes up, I remain baffled that people don't understand (or are in denial of) the difference between what it's like to meet someone at a stage door vs. a real-life scenario. Ever notice how every time this happens, most of the people to run to her defense are her fans who met her for three seconds at the stage door? (And I get it, I've been there; but when the accounts are this many and this persistent, something must be up). For f*ck's sake, of course she's nice to her fans, or capable of ass-kissing when it's necessary. She might be a raging bitch, but she's not stupid.
A little kindness can go a long way, but I guess if you think you're too great for that to matter, then act as you will.
Amen, emcee! What's funnier is that my subway stops on 49th Street, so there were many occasions I'd have to walk by the O'Neill when the Spring Awakening cast would be (very nicely) greeting fans at the stage door and you'd see ms. Michele slip out through the back of the theatre, running her mouth a mile a minute about fans at the stage door and/or you'd see her standing under a construction scaffolding across the street trying to avoid the crowd while dialing cast mates and leaving bitchy voicemails about how they shouldn't sign autographs for fans.. but in more colorful language.
There also incidents of "don't you know who I am?" being tossed at restaurant workers on 9th avenue, occasions where she walked into a room and those who have worked with her and/or know her immediately put down their mostly full drink and head for the exit, times where someone she is with on the street would stop to greet a familiar face and she would proceed to go into a screaming fit. I was once at a restaurant where her name was briefly mentioned in passing and the server proceeded to monologue about how she had been a guest there the night before and was awful to the staff..
Mind you, those are just things that have happened in PUBLIC. There are closed door stories that shouldn't be shared.
Isn't she like 26? That's not so young. She isn't a dumbass teenager. There are teenagers who have been in the spotlight for less time who don't behave like Lea allegedly does.
.jpg)
Bea Arthur Nude Sells For Nearly $2 Million At Auction
Drama Desk Award Winners - MATILDA, VANYA AND SONIA, PIPPIN, VIRGINIA WOOLF & More!
Gyllenhaal, Pine in Talks to Join INTO THE WOODS Movie?
John Bantay Talks to Richard Jay-Alexander About Musical Mondays Farewell
BWW TV Exclusive: Prince, Lewis & More Remember Kevin Gray
VIDEO: First Trailer for Season 3 of MTV's TEEN WOLF Debuts!
STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS Debuts to $164.6 Million Worldwide, Just Misses Domestic Target
Rooney Mara is the Face for New Calvin Klein Scent
Photo Flash: Look Back at Last Night's Star-Studded 2013 Billboard Music Awards!
iWatch Update: Apple Looking Into 1.5 OLED Screens?
BWW Blog: Leah Edwards - Practice. Perform. Repeat
BWW Reviews: FIAF Presents THE ULYSSES SYNDROME Celebrating World Nomads Tunisia
2013-2014 Season Highlights at Carnegie Hall
joined:10/9/05
Posted: 12/10/12 at 10:10pm