Lea Michele Battled "Mom Guilt" While Filming the Spring Awakening Reunion Special
Leah Michele recently had a rude awakening about how hard it is to be a working mom.
The mom of 1-year-old Ever opened up about balancing parenthood with work in an exclusive interview with E! News' Daily Pop on April 27 alongside BFF Jonathan Groff. The Spring Awakening star filmed the musical's reunion special—airing on HBO May 3—last fall.
"Doing Spring Awakening in November [2021] was the first time that I really left [Ever], and I went back to doing what I really love so much," she told E! News. "I definitely had mom guilt, for sure, of leaving him and not being there 24/7. But it was so important for me to show him me doing what I really love."
Motherhood is a role the actress was born to play. She and husband Zandy Reich welcomed son Ever Leo Reich in August 2020.
"Motherhood is beautiful, it's intense, it's hard. I's the greatest thing I've ever done," she shared. "[Ever] doesn't call me ‘mama' anymore. Now he just calls me ‘mom,' and I'm like, ‘How did this happen?' And over the monitor this morning at 7:00 a.m. I just hear, ‘Mom, mom, mom, mom?' The actress joked, "I'm like, ‘Oh my god, I have a 4-year-old.'"
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Long before her breakout role as Rachel Barry on the hit series Glee, Michele graced the Broadway stage in several shows, most notably alongside Groff in 2006's Spring Awakening when she was 19 years old.
"I think I was very hard on myself back then to do the most perfect show every single night and put a lot of pressure on myself," she shared. "I feel like, especially now as an adult and as a mom, I've enjoyed performing more."
Getting the gang back together for the Tony Award-winning Best Musical's 15th anniversary was something Michele and Groff couldn't have been more excited to do.
"It was a miracle that we got the entire original cast and the entire original band to come back for this concert," Groff said to E! News. "And then as it was getting closer, we thought, ‘This is so special. We should record the performance.'"
Like any best friend would do, Groff jumped at the chance to embarrass Michele during their interview, revealing that she has a "dance version of herself."
"I feel like people wouldn't expect that you really throw it down on the dance floor," he shared. "I threw a party after the concert, after we were done, and we got a DJ. And Lea will go hard all night long on the dance floor."
Check out their full interview in the clip above.
Spring Awakening: Those You've Known premieres May 3 at 9 p.m. on HBO and will also be available to stream on HBO Max.
