Lea Michele- diva reputation?

I keep seeing reports like this http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2010/06/09/2010-06-09_diva_alert_glee_star_lea_michele_acts_like_shes_the_only_star_on_the_show.html
that Lea Michele is difficult to work with on Glee, and an old family friend who happens to be a cousin of hers remarked to us that Lea had held this reputation since her teens on Broadway. Is this kind of common knowledge in the industry? She is certainly talented, but I'm surprised she could be so successful if she truly has this attitude.

I've actually heard this about her before she achieved such success from Glee. A lot.

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I cannot comment on her specifically, but in response to this comment:

"...I'm surprised she could be so successful if she truly has this attitude."

I've worked with several successful people, including non-celebrities and celebrities ranging from A-list to D-list. Success has zero to do with 'attitude,' unfortunately. I've seen SO many tantrums within my relatively short amount of time working in the industry. It's just personality. It's who people are. And you deal with people as they are. When their reputations build, sometimes their careers fade away, but you would be surprised at what people can get away with!!

I am STUNNED at how many times people are allowed to mess up and continue to work year after year after year.

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Can someone give more specific examples of this?

She was very nice to me when I met her after Fiddler and SA.

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It's no secret that she used to cruise the Christopher Street Pier, and would pick up young transient homosexuals, take them home, slaughter them, and bathe in their blood.

She's a 2000 year old succubus (some claim that she's Mary Magdelene), and often has difficulty hiding her tail.

You're very welcome, tourboi.

This is an ages-old reality of theater. With great talent often comes great ***hole-ness. Casts and crews have been dealing with this since the ancient Greeks.

My favorite story of diva-ness is the one about Tamara Geva, star of "On Your Toes" in 1936. She refused to go on the road to tour the show after the Broadway run (all shows back then toured with the original casts mostly intac) but when she heard that her replacement was swell, she showed up on opening night on the road, fully dressed and made up, ready to make her entrance. She had to be held back from walking out on stage by the cast.

Now THAT'S a diva.

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I went out a few friends from the cast to a bar after a performance. Lea came along but, was not 21 yet. I watched her throw a fit as the bartender refused to serve her. "Do you know who i am?" was one of the things she was saying.
I knew from that moment the little girl from Ragtime (as I used to call her) was growing up to be quite a DIVA.

Don't forget the tail, Borstal. Never forget the tail.

I don't listen to gossip like that b/c it doesn't matter to average people in their everyday lives.

Also, lets not forget that she is and was involved with two high profile projects (SA and GLEE) that attract ALOT and I mean ALOT of annoying teenagers. I would be very cool and boundaried as well. The SA fans were a nightmare, so it would be best to keep a distance and not participate in all sorts of tomfoolery. i'm sure GLEEKs are equally as hideous in person.

Oh, and mywonderwall,if I was a working actor, I don't know that I'd necessary hang around to sing a friend of a friend "Happy Birthday." I mean, as an actor, you're always being asked for "favors" and you just can't do them all. If that makes her a bitch for having some healthy boundaries, oh well, so be it.

I'll continue to judge Lea by her work and not her rumors.

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I've heard from people who have worked with her that she is pretty unpleasant, for example,a fight choreographer who worked with her in Spring Awakening said that the day he had to demonstrate a slap on her was his favorite day, and one of the choreographers on Glee referred to her as a "C U Next Tuesday" . . .those reactions plus the photographer incident and the way she comes across in interviews definitely make it seem like she is full of herself and has a bad attitude.

I don't really care how she is in real life; I'm not friends with her and I don't aspire to be, so I can continue to enjoy her work. Many, many celebrities are just as unlikeable as regular people. You just don't know about everyone. Shouldn't affect our perception of them as performers. But what bothers me about Lea is that she claimed she was vegan when she still ate fish and cheese sometimes (and admitted to doing so). I know most of you will now make fun of veganism, but I don't care. I DO care when people sully what the word actually means and contribute to the mass confusion most people have about what it actually means.