Lea Michele told E! News exclusively whether she would reprise her role as Rachel Berry if Fox's Glee ever returned, after co-creator Ryan Murphy suggested he might one day "revisit" the musical comedy series.
"I love Glee. I will always love Glee," Michele told E! News' Keltie Knight at the Michael Kors Spring Summer 2027 show during New York Fashion Week on September 11, 2026. "I love Ryan Murphy." She said the show "holds such a special place in my heart" and that she would "follow Ryan wherever he goes."
Glee ran on Fox for six seasons, from 2009 to 2015, following the members of the glee club at fictional William McKinley High School. Created by Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan, it launched Kevin McHale, Chris Colfer, Jenna Ushkowitz, Amber Riley and Dianna Agron to stardom, alongside the show's late stars, Cory Monteith and Naya Rivera.
Murphy told People in July that he had a great time making the show and had noticed a new, young audience discovering it. "My nostalgia and love for that show is enough that I'm like, 'Well, maybe people would like to see a new incarnation of that in some capacity,'" he said.
Ushkowitz, who played Tina Cohen-Chang, told E! News she felt the same way Michele did. "If Ryan was doing it and the right people were involved, I would consider it," she said.
Murphy's Regrets Behind the Scenes
Murphy has previously described the making of Glee as chaotic. "It was the best time in my life and the worst time in my life," he told Entertainment Weekly, adding there was "a lot of infighting" and "a lot of people sleeping together and breaking up." He told The Hollywood Reporter he wished he had let the young cast "figure it out for themselves" rather than acting as a parental figure, though he said he remains close with Michele, Chord Overstreet and Darren Criss. After creating Scream Queens, American Horror Story and Pose, Murphy said Glee "was a great lesson in what not to do moving forward."
Casting Twists
Murphy wrote Rachel Berry specifically for Michele, a Broadway veteran of Spring Awakening. Other roles took longer to settle: Criss's first-ever audition was for quarterback Finn, a part that went to Monteith, before Criss later landed Blaine Anderson. Colfer originally read for Artie, but producers were so impressed they created the role of Kurt for him, which Murphy said inspired the spinoff reality series The Glee Project. Dianna Agron joined last, cast as Quinn Fabray the day before the pilot filmed; Murphy told Rolling Stone her performance "humanized" a role meant to be a stereotypical mean girl.
On-Set Romances
Michele and Matthew Morrison dated briefly before the show, she wrote in her 2014 memoir Brunette Ambition. Michele and Monteith, whose characters formed one of the show's central couples, dated for several years before his death in 2013. Blake Jenner and Melissa Benoist met on set in 2012, married in 2015 and divorced in 2016, with the divorce finalized in 2017. Naya Rivera and Mark Salling dated briefly early in the show's run; in her 2016 memoir, Rivera wrote she regretted the relationship after Salling's 2017 child pornography indictment. Salling died by suicide in January 2018 at age 35. Gwyneth Paltrow, who guest-starred on the show, began dating co-creator Brad Falchuk in 2014 and married him in October 2018. Kevin McHale and Ushkowitz, despite rumors, said their bond was only a "showmance."
Feuds With Musicians
Not every artist welcomed a Glee cover. Murphy called Kings of Leon "self-centered assholes" after they refused to license "Use Somebody." Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash also declined, prompting Murphy to say people who make such comments are "uneducated and stupid." Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl told The Hollywood Reporter he watched "10 minutes" of the show and it "is not my thing," while pushing back on Murphy's criticism.
Wild Nights and Life Imitating Art
Colfer and Ushkowitz lived together and hosted cast parties with McHale and Riley, a foursome that nicknamed itself JACK after their initials. Riley said she smoked her first and last cigarette there and once got into a fight with a stranger while on the cast's concert tour in London. Colfer said storylines were sometimes pulled directly from cast members' lives, including his own high school memory of being barred from singing "Defying Gravity" because it was considered a girl's song, which became an episode plot. Overstreet's lips inspired the storyline and song "Trouty Mouth."
Darren Criss's Breakout
After his Finn audition, Criss debuted in season two as Blaine, performing Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream," which hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Criss, previously known for the YouTube series A Very Potter Musical, was later cast by Murphy as killer Andrew Cunanan in The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, a role that earned him a Golden Globe, Emmy and SAG Award.
Heather Morris and the Guest Star List
Heather Morris was originally hired just to teach Colfer Beyonce's "Single Ladies" choreography before being cast as a background cheerleader and eventually promoted to series regular, becoming Naya Rivera's on-screen love interest. She stepped back to recurring status in season five after becoming pregnant.
Guest stars who did appear included:
- Gwyneth Paltrow
- John Stamos
- Helen Mirren (voiceover)
- Carol Burnett
- Kate Hudson
- Lindsay Lohan
- Ricky Martin
- Sarah Jessica Parker
- Whoopi Goldberg
Announced guest spots that never happened included Javier Bardem, Anne Hathaway and Jennifer Lopez.
Tribute Episodes and the Concert Tour
After tributes to Madonna and Lady Gaga, Glee's season two Britney Spears homage, "Britney/Brittany," was Spears' own idea, according to Murphy, and she appeared as herself; a second Britney episode followed in season four. The cast also toured nationally from 2010 to 2011, selling out nearly all 40 dates and later touring Europe, grossing $40 million and spawning Glee: The 3D Concert Movie. By 2015, the show's 16 soundtrack albums and six compilation albums had sold more than 7.9 million copies, with songs downloaded over 45 million times.
Spinoff Rumors and Season Four Shake-up
Murphy told The Hollywood Reporter that Michele, Monteith and Colfer's characters would graduate and leave after season three, sparking rumors of a New York-set spinoff about Rachel and Kurt. Fox's then-president denied a spinoff was happening, and the trio ultimately stayed on Glee, though Murphy gave the graduating cast the choice to exit; most remained but shifted to recurring or guest roles.
The Glee Project and Writing Credits
The Oxygen reality spinoff The Glee Project ran during season three, sending winners Samuel Larsen and Damian McGinty Jr., plus runners-up Lindsay Pearce and Alex Newell, onto the main show. Season two winner Blake Jenner became a series regular in season five. Colfer later wrote a season five episode despite his nerves, and Criss wrote the finale song "This Time," which Michele performed on screen.
Twitter Scandals
In 2011, an extra named Nicole Crowther leaked prom spoilers on Twitter, prompting Falchuk to publicly criticize her; Crowther told E! News she received hateful messages and was blacklisted by agencies. Colfer's Twitter account was later hacked with a fake message claiming he had been fired, which he called "very upsetting" on Good Morning America.
Naya Rivera's Revelation and Monteith's Death
In her 2016 memoir, Rivera revealed she had an abortion during the show's run in 2010, shortly after splitting from actor Ryan Dorsey, whom she later married in 2014 and divorced in 2018. Monteith died in 2013 at age 31 from combined drug intoxication, prompting the show to take an extended hiatus and consider ending entirely, Murphy told E! News. Glee instead addressed his death in the episode "The Quarterback," which Murphy said the cast and crew struggled to film. Michele sang Bob Dylan's "Make You Feel My Love" in the episode, and Morrison said her performance gave the rest of the cast permission to grieve on camera.
Tattoos and Reunions
Michele has gotten several Glee-related tattoos, including one honoring Finn and the No. 5 in tribute to Monteith's jersey number, plus a gold star referencing Rachel's pilot-episode line. She, Ushkowitz and McHale also got matching "Imagine" tattoos on their feet during a night out. Since the show ended in 2015, the cast has stayed close: Michele and Criss have toured together and attended each other's weddings, Becca Tobin remains one of Michele's best friends, and Morrison reunited several castmates in 2018 to meet his newborn son. In March, some cast members, including Harry Shum Jr., reunited on the competition show Drop the Mic.
