Lea Michele as Rachel Berry
Character Bio
Lea Michele plays uber perfectionist Rachel Berry, star singer of the glee club.
Rachel joins the glee club hoping it will be her ticket to stardom and finding a boyfriend. Strong and driven, she is often misunderstood by those around her. She constantly gets picked on by popular cheerleaders and football players.
When quarterback Finn Hudson joins the glee club, Rachel immediately develops a huge crush on him. She briefly quits when fellow glee club member Tina is awarded a solo performance she wanted for herself. The overly competitive Rachel finds herself struggling to be a team player. But she later rejoins the glee club, realizing that she would rather be in a group where she is surrounded by friends. As the team prepares for Sectionals, she gives up the solo to glee club member Mercedes, demonstrating for the first time her commitment to team success over personal ambition.
Rachel has a brief relationship with football player and glee club member Puck. But she ultimately breaks it off with him because of her feelings for Finn. Finn and Rachel start to date but he breaks up with her when he decided he needed to take time out for himself. Rachel later starts dating Jesse St. James, a member of rival glee club Vocal Adrenaline.
Finn and the rest of the team are convinced that Jesse is just using Rachel to spy on their club. Rachel later discovers that Vocal Adrenaline coach Shelby Corcoran is her birth mother who had asked Jesse to befriend her so that she might reconnect with her. Right before the team’s performance at Regionals, Finn tells Rachel that he loves her.
Actor Bio
At the age of eight years old, Lea Michele has already starred in Broadway as the Young Cosette in the original New York production of “Les Miserables.” She then went on to play the role of Tateh’s daughter in the 1998 original Broadway cast of “Ragtime” as well as shared the stage with Alfred Molina in “Fiddler on the Roof.”
She is best known for her portrayal of Wendla in the Broadway production of “Spring Awakening,” where she was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical. Michele is featured on the original Broadway cast recordings of “Ragtime,” “Spring Awakening” and “Fiddler on the Roof.” In 2008, she portrayed Eponine in the Hollywood Bowl’s “Les Miserables” concert.
Michele rose to worldwide fame for her role as the overly ambitious and fame-hungry Rachel Berry in the Fox television series “Glee.” She has received worldwide critical and public acclaim for her work on the show. She earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Television Actress-Comedy or Musical this year. She was also honored this year with an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. Michele has also received Teen Choice Award nominations.
Michele’s additional television credits include “Third Watch” and “Guiding Light.” She will be lending her pipes to the upcoming animated 3-D musical feature film, “Dorothy of Oz.”
