Lea Michele says she’s come a long way since her days on “Glee.”
The Broadway star sat down with Drew Barrymore on Wednesday to talk about how getting married and becoming a mother has changed her perspective in life — especially after being called out two years earlier for her rude behavior.
“I just couldn’t see things clearly,” Michele, 36, said on Wednesday’s episode of “The Drew Barrymore Show.” “It was all about my career, you know, I’ve been so career-oriented all my life. I’m thinking a mistake. I think I just had this sense of drive that left a lot of blind spots in my life.”
The actress — who now stars as Fanny Brice in Broadway’s “Funny Girl” — suddenly found herself at the center of controversy in June 2020 after many of her former “Glee” castmates accused her of being “unpleasant to work with.”
Actress Samantha Ware was the first person to mention Michele’s behavior on Twitter, saying the star perpetuated “traumatic micro-aggressions” and made her time on the show, which ran from 2009 to 2015, a “living hell”.
The actress and husband Zandy Reich were expecting their now two-year-old son Ever, at the same time as the allegations of her harassment came out.
“When I met my husband it was a real grounding feeling for me, and when we had our son and experience the challenges we went through during pregnancy was something that unfortunately created a stronger bond in us that I would never wish for on everyone, but it did.”
The ‘Scream Queens’ star went on to say that her relationship with Reich – whom she married in 2019 – helped ‘transform’ her life and that she learned to appreciate the ‘big opportunity’ she got with ‘Funny Girl’.
“As an artist – as a person – I just feel like what I’m doing with this now is up to me and how I’m handling this. I’m really ready to take all this and put on a great show every night, But I also have fun with my cast, come home and celebrate with my family, something I’ve never done before.”
She continued: “I really enjoy being able to open my eyes to everything that’s going on around me because it’s all good and if it’s not fun then why are we doing it?”
Michele apologized for her behavior in June 2020 when the allegations came out, saying: “I’m a few months away from becoming a mother and I know I have to keep working to improve myself and take responsibility for my actions so that I can can become a real role model for my child and pass on my lessons and mistakes so they can learn from me.”
It turns out Michele kept her promise, as insiders told Vidak For Congress that the former diva has gone out of her way to be extra sweet behind the scenes of her latest Broadway venture.
“She’s so nice, she makes Julie Andrews look like a bitch,” a source told us.
While another added that “she will be soooo nice, it’s crazy. She knows everyone’s name and their birthdays.”