'Glee' star Lea Michele addresses her past – and rumors she can't read

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Lea Michele, who became a household name with her role in "Glee," opened up about her rocky past as she prepares to make her debut in Broadway's "Funny Girl." 

Before landing the role in "Funny Girl," Michele, 36, publicly dealt with accusations from "Glee" cast members and issued an apology. The actress discussed what she learned from that period in her life during a recent interview.

The accusations apparently led Michele to have an "intense time of reflection."

"I really understand the importance and value now of being a leader," the actress told The New York Times. "It means not only going and doing a good job when the camera’s rolling, but also when it’s not. And that wasn’t always the most important thing for me."

Co-star Samantha Ware accused Michele in 2020 of making her life a "living hell" while on the set of "Glee" and claimed the actress threatened to poop in her wig.

"She said I don't deserve to have that job," Ware further claimed in an interview with Variety at the time.

Lea Michele opened up about her past behavior as she prepares to take on a new role in Broadway's "Funny Girl." (Leon Bennett/Getty Images)

LEA MICHELE'S ‘FUNNY GIRL’ CASTING SLAMMED BY SAMANTHA WARE

"She talked about how she has reign. And here's the thing: I completely understood that, and I was ready to be like, 'This is your show. I'm not here to be disrespectful.' But at that point, we were already past the respect and she was just abusing her power."

Ware noted that she didn't think Michele was a racist person.

"Am I calling Lea a racist? No," the actress told Variety. "Does Lea have racist tendencies? I think Lea suffers from a symptom of living in this world in an industry that is tailored to white people."

"Glee" actress Heather Morris seemingly backed up Ware's claims with a tweet at the time.

Lea Michele also addressed rumors she can't read or write, calling them "sad." (Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images)

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"For Lea to treat others with the disrespect that she did for as long as she did, I believe she SHOULD be called out," she wrote.

Michele claimed her "perfectionism" and the expectation to perform at that level left her in a "semi-robotic state."

"I have an edge to me. I work really hard. I leave no room for mistakes," Michele told the outlet. "That level of perfectionism, or that pressure of perfectionism, left me with a lot of blind spots."

Michele's casting in "Funny Girl" was criticized by Ware on social media.

"Yes, I’m online today," Ware wrote on Twitter after the news of Michele's new role was announced.

"Yes, I see y’all. Yes, I care. Yes, im affected. Yes, I’m human. Yes, I’m Black. Yes, I was abused. Yes, my dreams were tainted. Yes, Broadway upholds whiteness. Yes, Hollywood does the same. Yes, silence is complicity. Yes, I’m loud. Yes, I’d do it again."

Samantha Ware called out Lea Michele over behavior she alleges happened while on the set of "Glee." (Getty Images)

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Elsewhere in the interview, Michele addressed a rumor that she can't read or write and noted that if she "were a man" she probably wouldn't be dealing with the online hate she routinely recieves.

"I went to ‘Glee’ every single day; I knew my lines every single day," she said. "And then there’s a rumor online that I can’t read or write? It’s sad. It really is. I think often if I were a man, a lot of this wouldn’t be the case."