Lea Michele Says 'Perfectionism' & 'Edge' To Blame For Work Misconduct

Lea Michele is days away from making her debut in “Funny Girl” on Broadway.

And given that she will be THE ‘funny girl’ it means all eyes, headlines and phone cameras will be on her waiting for her to mess up.

Lea doesn’t have the best track record of good behavior on set. In fact, when she was on “Glee” was known as the mean girl on set and many called her a ‘DIVA.’

In 2020, Samantha Ware put Lea on blast after she tweeted in support of Black Lives Matter and the murder of George Floyd. The tweet has since been deleted.

Samantha responded to Lea’s tweet, writing, “LMAO REMEMBER WHEN YOU MADE MY FIRST TELEVISION GIG A LIVING HELL?!?! CAUSE I'LL NEVER FORGET. I BELIEVE YOU TOLD EVERYONE THAT IF YOU HAD THE OPPORTUNITY YOU WOULD “SHIT IN MY WIG!” AMONGST OTHER TRAUMATIC MICROAGGRESSIONS THAT MADE ME QUESTION A CAREER IN HOLLYWOOD.”

A friend of Lea’s revealed to The Post saying QUOTE, “She’s had a real wake-up call. It’s never easy to hear people speak about you this way. It’s a total shock.”

It appears that even two-years after this all went down, Lea still feels the need to do damage control and explain herself.

In a new interview with The New York Times, the mother-of-one admitted, “I have an edge to me. I work really hard.”

She didn’t stop her defense there.

“I leave no room for mistakes,” the 36-year-old said. “That level of perfectionism, or that pressure of perfectionism, left me with a lot of blind spots.”

Lea noted that she’s changed the way she approaches her work given her past “mean girl” reputation.

“I really understand the importance and value now of being a leader,” she explained. “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.”

Recently, reports came out that Lea’s former “Glee” co-star, Jane Lynch, quit “Funny Girl” following news she would be joining the production.

Rumors swirled that Lynch quit because she didn’t want to work with Lea.

The “Best in Show” actress released a statement to Playbill and explained the reason for her exit.

She plays the role of Mrs. Brice, mother to main character, Fanny Brice.

Fanny was played by Beanie Feldstein (“Booksmart”) until she was diagnosed with tonsillitis. Feldstein had to end her run with the production much too early

Feldstein’s last show was on July 31st; however, she was originally set for a September out date.

Prior to taking her role and Mrs. Brice, the actress had a pre-planned vacation that runs from August 15 – August 23.

Lynch’s final curtain call was on August 14.

She was initially supposed to step out for her vacation and return to finish out the performance; however, Lynch is attending the Creative Arts Emmy Awards in LA on September 1.

Rather than going back and forth between Los Angeles and New York City, Lynch decided it would be best if she called it day on August 14.

In a statement to Playbill, Lynch explained there is absolutely no drama behind the scenes at “Funny Girl.”

“I have a vacation August 14th, and then I had just like five shows after that, and it’s a six-hour flight, so I thought, ‘let’s end it now,’” she explained. “It has nothing to do with not wanting to see Lea. I text with Lea. She and I are fine. I’m thrilled for her.”