Lea Michele may have given up meat and dairy, but she hasn't given up food! The Glee star, 25, became noticeably thinner last summer, prompting the inevitable eating-disorder rumors. But in the new issue of Allure magazine, Michele reveals that the weight loss was a side effect of jaw surgery -- not starvation.
"I'm half Italian. I can eat some bitches under the table,"the singer-actress tells the magazine.
A longtime vegan, Michele is used to people assuming that she eats like a rabbit. "People get confused, like, you know, I just eat grass," she jokes.
These aren't the only misunderstandings that Michele has experienced since her overnight rise to fame in 2009. Rumors abound of the performer's "diva-like" behavior -- an insult that Michele says she finds confusing.
"I came from the theater world, where the word 'diva' was awesome," she explains. "But it's different in Los Angeles. And this all happened to me so quickly."
One of the stories that fueled her diva reputation was this: At a Time magazine party, a photographer asked who she was and she replied, "Sarah Palin." The comment was taken to be haughty and mean, but she swears it was intended as a joke.
"I was being silly," Michele says now. "But anyway, that's a huge thing I learned... Not everybody knows you and has the same sense of humor. At the same time, if I couldn't be myself, I'd lose my mind."
One friend in particular is helping Lea navigate the treacherous terrain of fame: occasional Glee guest star Gwyneth Paltrow. She says that meeting Paltrow was a big lesson in not believing everything you hear about celebrities.
"I don't know what people are smoking, because this woman is one of the most talented, beautiful, smart but laid-back, cool people I’ve worked with," gushes Lea. "That's what I hate about this business. Before I met her, I was intimidated because of her image. But she's the greatest."
