In an interview by Lauren Waterman for Teen Vogue, GLEE superstars Lea Michele and Cory Monteith chat about the hit series and what their lives were like before they became household names.
Monteith commented on his pre-GLEE life, "I was 20 years old, working as a roofer and a telemarketer and driving a taxi, just barely getting by. A friend of a friend suggested I try acting. I was like, 'Why? What am I going to do? Community theater?' But I took a class, and the teacher thought that I had potential, so I moved to Vancouver and started auditioning. I slept on someone's floor. I brought, like, two shirts and two pairs of pants."
Michele added, "I didn't expect to be an actor either. But I went to an audition, and I got a job. After my first night on stage, I turned to my parents and said, 'I love doing this-don't ever stop me.' But I was very content; I figured that my life's path was to be a Broadway performer."
GLEE made its triumphant return to prime time with an astounding 12.3 million viewers tuning in to the Season 2 premiere. The anticipation and excitement for GLEE music reached new heights with over 250,000 new tracks downloaded in the first 48 hours available. This incredible response yielded more record breaking moments for GLEE; it's the first time all singles from any episode simultaneously appeared in the top 10 of iTunes Top Songs chart. Additionally, the GLEE cast version of Jay-Z's anthem "Empire State of Mind" has the single highest first day sales for any GLEE track released to date.
To date over 13 million GLEE songs have been digitally downloaded, with over 5 million albums sold worldwide. GLEE scored three consecutive #1 releases with GLEE: The Music, Volume 3 Showstoppers, GLEE: The Music, The Power of Madonna and GLEE: The Music, Journey To Regionals. This week four GLEE releases occupy slots within Billboard's top 100 best selling albums Glee: The Music, Volume 3 Showstoppers at #31, Glee: The Music, Volume 1 at #58, GLEE: The Music, Journey To Regionals at #66 and GLEE: The Music, Volume 2 at #81. With all the excitement around Glee's return, it's evident why the New York Times proclaimed GLEE is now a bonafide phenomenon."
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