Idina Menzel and Lea Michele are both well-known American actresses and singers who have made a significant impact in the field of film industry.
Lea Michele has starred in films and television shows like The Mayor, New Year’s Eve, and Scream Queens.
Highlights
- Idina Menzel has received awards like the American Music Award and Billboard Music Award.
- Lea Michele and Idina Menzel are not related to each other and have different families.
- In 2010, Broadway star Idina Menzel portrayed the role of Shelby Corcoran, who is Rachel Berry’s (played by Lea Michele) biological mother.
She is well known for her portrayal of Rachel Berry on the TV show Glee.
Lea Michele received multiple nominations for her work in Glee, including an Emmy, two Golden Globes, and three Grammy Awards.
Idina Menzel, also known as the “Queen of Broadway,” made her Broadway debut in 1996 in the rock musical Rent.
Her performance earned her a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.
Idina Menzel has also received awards like the American Music Award, a Billboard Music Award, and a Daytime Emmy Award.
Idina Menzel And Lea Michele Come From Different Family Trees
The two actresses do not share a similar surname and come from diverse family backgrounds.
Idina Menzel was born in Manhattan on May 30, 1971, to Jewish parents Stuart Menzel and Helene Goldberg.
She grew up in New Jersey with her younger sister named, Cara. Later, their family moved to Syosset, New York, on Long Island.
Taye Diggs and Menzel married on January 11, 2003, and welcomed a son. In 2017, she married Aaron Lohr after divorcing her first husband in 2014.
On the other hand, Lea Michele has an entirely different family tree.
Lea Michele, the only child of Edith Thomasina and Mark David Sarfati, was born on August 29, 1986, in The Bronx, New York.
She was born into a family of mixed ethnicity, her mother is an Italian American with ancestors from Rome and Naples, while her father is a Sephardic Jew with Judaeo-Spanish-speaking ancestors from Thessaloniki, Greece.
Besides that, Lea Michele is married to Zandy Reich and has two children.
The Speculation about Idina and Lea’s relationship may have arisen from their collaboration on the TV show Glee.
Idina Menzel Played The Role Of Lea Michele’s Mother On Glee
Although Idina Menzel and Lea Michele are not related in real life, they portray a family relationship in the movie.
Due to the strong physical similarity between Menzel and Michele, fans lobbied for Menzel to be cast as Lea Michele’s mother.
Menzel played the role of Shelby Corcoran, the biological mother of Lea’s character Rachel Berry who gave her up for adoption as a teen.
In the series, Shelby had signed a contract that stated she couldn’t seek out her daughter until she was eighteen.
The mother and daughter reconnected later and Shelby became the coach of Rachel’s rival glee club.
Their relationship explored themes of identity, abandonment, and the complexities of mother-daughter bonds.
Additional Information
- Lea Michele Sarfati began her career as a child actress on Broadway at the age of eight, as a replacement in the role of Young Cosette in Les Miserables.
- Idina Menzel was named a Disney Legend in 2022 and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2019.
- Lea Michele released her debut studio album, Louder, in 2014, which debuted 4 on the Billboard 200 chart.
- Lea Michele published her first book “Brunette Ambition” in 2014, which topped the New York Times Best Seller list.
