The star had spent six years in a Broadway theatre production of musical Les Miserables by the time she went to high school. She had hoped she would continue to improve her singing and acting skills as a student, but says she was left devastated when she was alienated by some members of staff.
Lea believes the teachers didn’t want to help her because they were intimidated by the success she had already enjoyed at such a young age.
“My acting teacher and music teachers didn’t really like me and they kind of ignored me. I think they were threatened by the fact that I had worked before,” Lea said in an interview with the British edition of Marie Claire. “Maybe it made them uncomfortable. I would have loved for them to have taught me but maybe they felt like they couldn’t. They just ignored me and didn’t really pay attention to me.
“It made me feel like they were stupid, that it was pretty silly of them. I’m on a show called Glee right now and I could sing their praises, but unfortunately I don’t have anything to say.”
Lea is most famous for her role as ambitious and straight-laced high school student Rachel Berry in Glee. The 24-year-old was thrilled to win the part because she finds it easy to identify with Rachel, who struggles to fit in with other students.
Lea admits she didn’t have many friends at school and had very different interests to many of her peers.
“My school was a bit like Gossip Girl in that there was a lot of money and we didn’t have as much,” she revealed. “It was very clear towards the end of school that I was different to those people and I didn’t like the things they liked. I would go to parties and the best part of going would be the leaving. I would go to a party because I felt that’s what I should be doing. I’m such a loser!”