Going in new directions? Kevin McHale hasn’t rushed to see former Glee costar Lea Michele in Funny Girl on Broadway just yet.
“I don’t have any plans [to go],” the 34-year-old, who played Artie Abrams on all six seasons of the Fox series, recently told E! News. “I haven’t talked to her in a while, to be honest.”
Michele, 36, is currently starring as Fanny Brice in the Broadway show, taking over for Beanie Feldstein. The Scream Queens alum previously performed several of the musical’s biggest hits — most memorably “Don’t Rain on My Parade” — during her tenure as Rachel Berry on Glee, so McHale knows she has what it takes to shine on stage.
“She’s obviously extremely, extremely talented,” he told the outlet. “I’m sure she’s f–king phenomenal in it. Are you kidding me? She could do the role in her sleep.”
The “And That’s What You Really Missed” podcast cohost reflected on the bonds formed between cast members on the set of the Ryan Murphy series, which aired from 2009 to 2015. “We all grew up together. We grew up doing this really insane and unique thing,” he explained. “It wasn’t even just shooting a TV show together. It was a TV show that became weirdly successful all over the world for different groups of people who didn’t normally have something like this on network TV.”
While he may not be in close contact with Michele, McHale keeps in touch with former costars Chris Colfer and Jenna Ushkowitz, who played Kurt Hummel and Tina Cohen-Chang, respectively. When it comes to an official Glee reboot, however, the Texas native doesn’t think fans should get their hopes up.
“I don’t know if that would ever happen as a TV show or a reboot-type thing,” he said. “I don’t think that would ever happen. Well, you know, until Ryan Murphy says so.”
Though it’s been years since the series ended, Glee hasn’t faded from the cultural conversation. In 2020, season 6 alum Sammie Ware claimed Michele made her life “a living hell” during filming, going so far as to allege the Spring Awakening star was guilty of using “traumatic microagressions” on set. (Ware’s allegations made headlines amid heightened racial tension in the U.S. after the murder of George Floyd.)
Michele, then pregnant with son Ever, responded to the accusations in a lengthy Instagram statement in June 2020. “One of the most important lessons of the last few weeks is that we need to take the time to listen and learn about other people’s perspectives and any role we have played or anything we can do to help address the injustices that they face,” she wrote, noting that she wanted to show “support for our friends and neighbors and communities of color during this really difficult time.”
The actress asserted that she has “never judged others by their background or color of their skin,” adding: “Whether it was my privileged position and perspective that caused me to be perceived as insensitive or inappropriate at times or whether it was just my immaturity and me just being unnecessarily difficult, I apologize for my behavior and for any pain which I have caused. We all can grow and change and I have definitely used these past several months to reflect on my own shortcomings.”
When news broke earlier this year that Michele would take the stage as Fanny on Broadway, Ware publicly slammed the casting news via social media. Before making her Funny Girl debut, the New York native addressed the rumors about her workplace behavior.
“I have an edge to me. I work really hard,” she told The New York Times in a September 1 profile. “I leave no room for mistakes. That level of perfectionism, or that pressure of perfectionism, left me with a lot of blind spots.”
