Lea Michele says she changed her name after being bullied. Photo / Supplied
Lea Michele says bullies made her change her name.
The Glee actress was originally born with the surname Sarfati, but cruel taunts at school means she altered it when she went to her first audition, and has kept her stage moniker ever since.
During an appearance on the Late Show
with Jay Leno, she said: "Sarfati. That's my real last name. I don't use it a lot because I got 'Lea So-fatty', 'Lea So-farty' at school.
"So when I was little and I went on my first audition they were like, 'And may we have your name,' and I was like, 'Lea Michele'. And I've been Lea Michele ever since."
"It's Sephardic, which is Spanish/Jew."
