Glee Star Kevin McHale Makes His Feeling About Lea Michele Crystal Clear
When Lea Michele joined the cast of "Funny Girl" on Broadway, the news generated off-screen drama worthy of its own Broadway musical (or an episode of "Glee").
Michele replaced popular actor Beanie Feldstein, and on Twitter, the move was met with a mixture of excitement from fans of the "Glee" star and sympathy from Feldstein's supporters. "The devil works hard but Lea Michele works harder. She was born to play Fanny Brice. It's her destiny," read one tweet. But another person suggested that Michele's casting could have negative repercussions for everyone involved with the production. "Praying for those castmates and background dancers. Dear God, pray!" the concerned fan tweeted.
The backlash to Michele's casting was seemingly in response to unflattering accusations about the actor's behavior on the set of "Glee." Samantha Ware, one of Michele's former co-stars, tweeted (and later deleted) a claim that Michele was so cruel to her that it made her reconsider her decision to pursue a career as an actor. "I believe you told everyone that if you had the opportunity you would 's*** in my wig!'" Ware tweeted at Michele (via Vox). This opened the floodgates, and enough actors came forward to share their own unpleasant experiences with Michele that she felt compelled to apologize for her actions on Instagram. But while another of her ex-"Glee" castmates, Kevin McHale, doesn't plan on watching her play Fanny Brice, his decision seemingly has nothing to do with feelings of ill-will toward Michele.
Kevin McHale's praise for Lea Michele
After Samantha Ware called Lea Michele out, a few other "Glee" stars agreed that her workplace behavior was lacking. "Was she unpleasant to worth with? Very much so," tweeted Heather Morris. But at the time, Kevin McHale's only contribution to the discourse was to shoot down speculation that Chord Overstreet was a Donald Trump supporter as rumors about the "Glee" cast spiraled out of control on Twitter (via Us Weekly).
As far as supporting Michele's blossoming Broadway career is concerned, when E! News caught up with McHale, he revealed that he doesn't plan on checking out her performance in "Funny Girl." Said the actor, "I haven't talked to her in a while, to be honest." But he doesn't have to see Michele in action to know that he would agree with those rave reviews she has been getting. "She's obviously extremely, extremely talented," he stated. "I'm sure she's f***ing phenomenal in it. Are you kidding me? She could do the role in her sleep."
McHale isn't the only "Glee" star who thinks Michele deserves the Broadway gig. While it wasn't a great look that Jane Lynch deprived "Glee" fans of a reunion between Rachel Berry and Sue Sylvester by vacating her own "Funny Girl" role before Michele joined the cast, Lynch insisted that Michele had nothing to do with her exit. "I adore her," Lynch told Deadline. "She's just going to take this show and make it her own."