Lea Michele Was Born a Star, Says Spring Awakening Pal

Find out what it was like meeting the Glee star before she was so famous

It's really no surprise that Lea Michele is one of the big breakout stars of Glee.

By the time the show rolled around, she'd already been a smash on Broadway.

In fact…

John Gallagher, Jr., who won a Tony Award for his role opposite Michele in the hit 2006 musical Spring Awakening, says he knew as soon as he met her she was going to be big.

"I think she was just born a star," he tells me. "She was about 17 or 18 when I first met her at the first workshop I did for Spring Awakening. She absolutely walked into that room and she was like, you know, Barbra Streisand. I said, 'Oh, yes, absolutely it's going to happen for this girl—and very quickly.' I'm very happy for her."

And we're very happy that we're going to be seeing a lot more of the charming and very handsome Gallagher, 28. He plays a senior producer in The Newsroom, Aaron Sorkin's new HBO series about a controversial cable news anchor played by the remarkable Jeff Daniels.

"I emailed my agent and I said, 'I think I'm unavailable for this, but at the very least can I read the script," said Gallagher. "I read it, fell for it and knew I had to try my best to get involved."

And yes, we'll hear Gallagher sing on the show. "Aaron found out that Jeff is also a singer/songwriter and he puts out his own records and then he found out that I play guitar and sing," Gallagher said. "So, one day, he said, 'Oh, there's going to be an episode when you and Jeff are jamming.' I thought he was kidding, but two weeks later I found out that he wasn't kidding and that he had worked it into the script."

Cannot wait to see—and hear—the outcome!