Lea Michele is set to reprise Rachel Berry in the Glee reboot ordered on October 21 by Disney+ and Hulu, with one source saying simply, “She’s in.” Another added, “It’s still early-ish days, but it feels good and we’re happy to get the band back together.”
A more cautious framing has her in talks, and her reps did not comment.
Michele originated Rachel on the Fox series, which ran six seasons from 2009 to 2015, set at a high school in Lima, Ohio. Ryan Murphy wrote the character specifically for her.
In September, she told E! News at a Michael Kors show, “I love Glee. I will always love Glee,” and, “I will follow Ryan wherever he goes.”
Murphy said he recently finished a script with Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan, and that the roughly 10 cast members he contacted “were very enthusiastic about the idea.” Co-stars have teased their own returns: Page Six quotes Chord Overstreet, “Reunited and it feels so good!”
The news revives the 2020 backlash against Michele, when Samantha Marie Ware accused her of making her first TV job a “living hell.” Heather Morris said Michele was “unpleasant to work with” but would not assume racism, and Amber Riley said, “I’m not going to say that Lea Michele is racist.”
Michele apologized at the time, writing that she did not remember “ever making this specific statement,” though her statement did not name Ware. HelloFresh ended its ambassadorship with her after the posts.
Three original cast members have since died: Cory Monteith in 2013, Mark Salling in 2018, and Naya Rivera in 2020.