Lea Michele’s Glee castmate Kevin McHale shares thoughts on her Funny Girl role on Broadway

In a new interview Kevin McHale admitted that he doesn’t plan to go see former Glee castmate Lea Michele in her Funny Girl stint on Broadway.

Speaking with E! News the actor, 34, admitted ‘I don’t have any plans [to see Funny Girl].’

He added that he hasn’t spoken to Michele, 36 – who succeeded Beanie Feldstein, 29, in the production earlier this month – in a long time.

New statement: In a new interview Kevin McHale admitted that he doesn’t plan to go see former Glee castmate Lea Michele in her Funny Girl stint on Broadway

‘I haven’t talked to her in a while, to be honest,’ he revealed to the publication.

But he spoke fondly of the Glee cast as a whole, noting: ‘We all grew up together. We grew up doing this really insane and unique thing.’ 

Elaborating, he said, ‘It wasn’t even just shooting a TV show together.

‘It was a TV show that became weirdly successful all over the world for different groups of people who didn’t normally have something like this on network TV.’

Showtime! McHale added that he hasn’t spoken to Michele, 36, who succeeded Beanie Feldstein in the production earlier this month, in a long time

Kevin acknowledged Lea’s talent and star power elsewhere in the interview as well.

‘She’s obviously extremely, extremely talented,’ he gushed in his sit-down with the news outlet.

‘I’m sure she’s f***ing phenomenal in it. Are you kidding me? She could do the role in her sleep,’ he praised.

Michele began preparing for the role back in July, shortly after Beanie announced her pending departure from the show.

Swap-out: Michele confirmed she was cast as Beanie Feldstein’s replacement with a post shared to social media in July

Michele confirmed she was cast as the replacement with a post shared to social media – a Funny Girl marquee poster of herself and Tovah Feldshuh, who is taking over the role of Fanny’s mother Mrs. Rose Brice from Jane Lynch.

Michele had previously been rumored to be in the running for the role initially after performing many of the show’s songs during her time on the series Glee from 2009 to 2015.

‘Once the production decided to take the show in a different direction, I made the extremely difficult decision to step away sooner than anticipated,’ Feldstein wrote in her exit announcement.

Funny Girl opened on Broadway on April 24 and currently has an open-ended run.

Reflective: Kevin spoke fondly of the Glee cast as a whole, noting: ‘We all grew up together. We grew up doing this really insane and unique thing’; Chris Colfer, Jenna Ushowitz, Amber Riley, Kevin McHale, and Lea Michele in 2009

However, a Gawker article claimed that the Booksmart actress was booted out after a string of bad reviews.

Then rumors swirled that Beanie had blindsided producers when she told fans she was leaving earlier than what they’d planned.

Speaking to People, a joint statement from a representative for Feldstein and Funny Girl producer said: ‘The producers of Funny Girl were not blindsided by Beanie’s social post.

‘The producers decided to take the show in a different direction and end Beanie’s contract on September 25th, 6 months earlier than anticipated. A month after that decision, Beanie decided it was best for her to leave on July 31st. The producers were aware of and in support of her decision.’

Phenomenon: ‘It was a TV show that became weirdly successful all over the world for different groups of people who didn’t normally have something like this on network TV,’ McHale said