One week ago it was revealed that Lea Michele and Chris Colfer would be returning for the fourth season of Glee, despite their characters graduating from McKinley at the end of this year. I already brought you Insider.com’s exclusive chat with Chris and now it’s Lea’s time to shine.

Since day one, her performance as Rachel “I’m A Star” Berry has been one of the show’s most consistently ferocious, earning Lea an Emmy nomination, two Golden Globe nods and a massive army of fans. I caught up with the actress right after it was revealed that she would be back next season, so in addition to getting the dish on Rachel’s return, I found out what to expect from … Read the rest

Lea Michele has had a starring role on Broadway, a leading role on TV’s “Glee,” and now she’s made her motion picture debut in the star-stuffed “New Year’s Eve,” which just topped the box office in its opening weekend ($13 million). As Rachel Berry on the hit Fox show she’s an overly ambitious high schooler with her sights set on New York, and in the film Michele’s character is similarly ambitious, an aspiring singer who’s booked her first big gig on the biggest New York night of the year. But that’s where the similarities end, and Michele embraced the chance to stretch her acting chops in a role outside the “Glee” bubble. We caught up with Michele to chat about … Read the rest

She has a hit show, a killer voice and, to top it all off, “Glee” star Lea Michele is closing out 2009 with a Golden Globe nomination.

The Bronx-born, Tenafly-raised Michele is up for best performance by an actress in a television series (comedy or musical), for her spot-on portrayal of overachiever Rachel Berry on Fox’s breakout hit

“When I found out I was nominated for a Golden Globe in the category that I was nominated in, I was in complete shock,” Michele told the Daily News. “As a matter of fact, I’m still in shock! It is such an honor, something I never thought I would be lucky enough to have happen to me in my life. I feel … Read the rest

Lea Michele puts the Glee in Fox’s irresistible new high-school musical.

For such a tiny person, the five-foot-three part–Italian Catholic, part–Sephardic Jew Lea Michele is a major presence—big smile, big voice, big personality. Some of it might be the coffee; she drinks “a lot” of it. “A lot!” she repeats. But whatever the genesis, her bottomless pit of energy and enthusiasm is the perfect foundation for playing Rachel Berry, the hyperstriving, self-appointed star of the worst high-school glee club in Ohio in Fox’s satire Glee.

When I meet the 22-year-old Michele, née Sarfati, at a photo studio, she’s getting a spontaneous haircut. She’d gotten approval from Glee co-creator Ryan Murphy (Nip/Tuck), and now seemed as good a time as any. … Read the rest

Born in the Bronx and raised in Tenafly, New Jersey, Lea Michele debuted on Broadway at age eight in Les Miserables. From the time she was 14 until she was 20, she starred in Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik’s musical adaptation of Spring Awakening, garnering a Drama Desk Award nomination in 2007 for her performance.

Tonight Michele makes her official transition to the small screen, starring as the Tracy Flick-ish, hyperactive Glee club member Rachel Berry in Fox’s much ballyhooed comedy Glee. Set in the small town of Lima, Ohio, the hour-long show from the creator of Nip/Tuck blends comedy with singing. But unlike, say, the opening rounds of American Idol, the fictional Glee captures the underdog spirit while playfully … Read the rest