Woman’s Health: Living the Dream with Lea Michele

The breakout star of the Glee cast on Rachel Berry, Broadway auditions and how you can achieve your dreams
Lori Majewski

It’s just after 9 a.m. on a gray and rainy Saturday the kind of morning that has even the most energetic Los Angelenos hitting the snooze button and crawling back under their comforters. Lea Michele, however, is hard at work.

Strapped into a safety harness, the 5’3″ actress—who’s dressed in black knee-length workout pants and a matching zip-up top, her long, dark hair pulled back into a tight ponytail—is attempting to scale a 24-foot climbing wall at Rockreation, an indoor wonderland of sculpted vertical terrain. It’s a tough ascent, but Lea summits with ease, pulling herself up peg by peg and giving those biceps and hamstrings a wicked workout. “That was fun,” she says enthusiastically, touching down onto solid ground. “Now let’s try a harder one!”

Clearly, Lea likes the view from the top. And as one of the stars of Fox’s hit show Glee—a musical dramedy about a high school singing club made up of loveable, music-obsessed misfits—the 23-year-old who grew up in Manhattan and Tenafly, New Jersey, has gotten used to breathing in rarified air. Put it this way: If Hollywood were high school, the crazy talented cast would be holding court at the cool lunch table, with Lea, who plays Rachel Berry—the self-appointed leader of the pack—sitting front and center.

Get our exclusive interview with Lea, on newsstands now!