Lea Michele Sarfati (born August 29, 1986) is an American (United States) actress and singer. Michele began working professionally as a child actor on Broadway (Broadway theatre) in productions such as Les Mis�rables (Les Mis�rables (musical)). She appeared in several more musicals before being selected for the lead role in the hit musical Spring Awakening (Spring Awakening (musical)), earning herself a Drama Desk Award nomination for her performance. She has recently received widespread acclaim, and several award nominations, for her performance as Rachel Berry (Rachel Berry (Glee)) in the Fox (Fox Broadcasting Company) television series Glee (Glee (TV series)), which premiered in May 2009.