Michele & Groff Talk SPRING and GLEE Reunion!

Former SPRING AWAKENING Co-stars and soon-to-be GLEE co-stars Lea Michele and Jonathan Groff recently talked with the New York Times about their time together on stage, their individual journeys with the GLEE phenomenon and whether or not their GLEE characters, Rachel Berry and Jesse ST. James, will share the same ill-fate as Wendla and Melchior in the back nine episodes of GLEE this season.

Michele and Groff opened up about their unusually close friendship and how Groff was a favorite Melchior of Michele's during the off-Broadway casting process for SPRING AWAKENING. Michele told the Times, "what I was trying to do, with the Melchiors that I liked, was give them littLe Pointers so that Michael Mayer would like them. And Jonathan was one of them. I liked him, but a lot of it was also out of pity. He looked very different from how he looks right now. Jonathan used to wear pants that were like 10 sizes to small on him. But not in like a skinny way - in like a 'these were my skinny pants that I wore in the fifth grade' way."

Michele and Groff also reveal how they both ended up on the hit Fox TV show GLEE. Michele told the Times that Groff actually helped her get the coveted role of over-achieving glee club star Rachel Berry after a chance encounter with Ryan Murphy at a dinner in L.A. while Groff was in California shooting a pilot for him. Groff told the Times, "The pilot didn't get picked up, but during that time, all the shows on Broadway went down because of the stagehands' strike. So Lea came out and stayed with me for a couple of days in California, and we all went to dinner one night, with Ryan and some of the cast from the show. And Ryan was like, 'I'm working on this television show...and Lea, there's this perfect part for you, and I'll keep you in mind.'"

To read the complete New York Times interview with Lea Michele and Jonathan Groff, click here.

Recent winner of the People's Choice Award for Best New Comedy and Golden Globe winner for Best Television Series Comedy or Musical, GLEE, the new musical comedy series, follows an optimistic teacher who - against all odds and a malicious cheerleading coach - attempts to save McKinley High's Glee Club from obscurity while helping a group of aspiring underdogs realize their true star potential.

The show, which also garnered Golden Globe recognition, stars Dianna Agron, Chris Colfer, Jessalyn Gilsig, Jane Lynch, Jayma Mays, Kevin McHale, Lea Michele, Cory Monteith, Matthew Morrison, Amber Riley, Mark Salling and Jenna Ushkowitz.

Due to the success of the first installment of the show, which aired last on December 9, FOX has already ordered a second season of the show and announced that it will soon be launching a nationwide search to cast three new roles, which will be documented on the network in the multi-part special. These newest additions will make their debut on the second season premiere.

GLEE is produced by Ryan Murphy Television in association with 20th Century Fox Television. Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan are co-creators of the series. Murphy, Falchuk and Dante di Loreto serve as executive producers, while Ian Brennan serves as co-executive producer.

GLEE returns to FOX on April 13, 2010 at 9:30pm. For information on the upcoming GLEE tour this summer, visit www.gleetour2010.com.

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