Lea Michele Made Young 'True Grit' Star Cry With Brush Off

By John Mitchell Posted Jan 7th 2011 10:25PM

Little Hailee Steinfeld is earning some very adult accolades -- including a Best Supporting Actress SAG Award nomination -- for her turn in 'True Grit,' but the 14-year-old actress got the cold shoulder from a 'Glee' starlet who apparently just didn't have time for her.

"When I was auditioning for 'True Grit,' I was on the Paramount lot. I was wearing clothes from the 1800s that were big and uncomfortable. 'Glee' also films on the lot, and I love the show," Steinfeld told J-14 magazine. "I saw Lea Michele just walking to her trailer, and I was like, 'That's the girl from 'Glee.' I've got to go ask for her autograph!' So I walked up to her and asked for her autograph, but she walked by and a guy came and said, 'Sorry, now's not a good time!'"

The young actress, who stars alongside Matt Damon and Jeff Bridges in 'Grit,' was so heartbroken by the brush off that she left in tears. "I had to walk all the way back to the car wearing what I was wearing. I was practically crying on the way home," Steinfeld said. "I was so sad! But she's beautiful, and she has an amazing voice."

This isn't the first time accusations of diva-like behavior have been hurled at Michele. "She acts like she's the only star on the show, and it has become an uncomfortable situation when she gives attitude to the people around her," a source close to 'Glee' told the New York Daily News this summer. "Lea acts like she's better than the rest of the cast."

Michele also found herself in hot water earlier this year when reports surfaced that she snapped at famed photographer Patrick McMullan at the Time 100 gala when he dared to ask for her name. The actress got huffy and told McMullan she was "Sarah Palin" then "Taylor Swift," at which point the photog excused himself.

The actress backpedaled when the story hit the press, saying she "made a silly joke," but McMullan contended (via E! Online) that it was anything but and that the reports were true. "Everything that's in that story is true, Lea giving me the fake names, but not what I said," McMullan told E!'s Ted Casablanca. "I didn't say 'f**k you' to her, even though I wanted to say 'f**k you!' No, what I said was, 'Forget about it.' ... But you know what? Taylor Swift and Demi [Moore] and Ashton [Kutcher] were totally cool and nice at that event. They're classy."

More recently, Details writer Claire Hoffman included some choice observations about Michele's on-set behavior in her cover story on 'Glee' star Matthew Morrison.

Everyone's looking over their lines now, rehearsing dance steps -- except Lea Michele, who keeps staring at me as I observe Morrison. Every time I look up, I catch her looking my way. It seems she knows I'm a reporter and wants my attention.

When Morrison brings over a laptop to show me a movie treatment he's been working on, Michele crosses the set, stands next to me, and starts talking to the show's publicist. "I have a lot of interviews to do," she says. "There's that AIDS blast and..." She turns to look at me. "Oh, hi."

Within minutes the publicist asks me to leave the set. I'm a distraction.

For her part, Steinfeld likely isn't sweating Michele's rude behavior. Just a few weeks into its theatrical run, 'Grit' is already a huge hit with both critics and audiences. Having grossed more than $93 million in just two weeks, it is already the most successful film ever for the Coen brothers ('Fargo,' 'The Big Lebowski,' 'No Country for Old Men'), and is expected to continue to rack up box office dollars as awards season marches on. The young actress is already being hyped as a likely Oscar nominee for her turn as Mattie Ross in the adaptation of Charles Portis' popular novel.

And if Steinfeld still cares about getting Michele's autograph, she'll have another chance on Jan. 30, when both attend the SAG Awards (Michele is nominated along with the cast of 'Glee' for the Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series).

Tags: Glee, Hailee Steinfeld, Lea Michele

Comments

(62)

Friday 07 January

By Muscleman

Highest Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

LMFAO. That was priceless, now lets get back to it...and Tanya Roberts, Ann Jillian, Charlene Tilton, Donna Dixon,Yasmene Bleeth,Cathy Le....

Saturday 08 January

By J

LOL.... & let's not forget Shannon Daurghty!!!

By Marnie

Vote down Vote up Report this

...and everyone on Celebrity Fit Club, Celebrity Rehab!

By Stompy

I've never even heard of Lea. Sounds like a self-absorbed b*tch who will lose fame after that show is over with anyway.

By Jock

Lea sucks and the show would go on without her. EVERYONE IS REPLACEABLE.....ESPECIALLY YOU LEA! If you can't keep your mind on your work because of a reporter on the set your not much of an actress. GROW UP!!!!

By ab

High Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

lea needs to talk to suzanne somers she might get a reality ck.
i am an older person who loves the show she ain,t my fav by a longggggggggggg shot. sing my yes act not sooooooooooooooooooo much. she needs to grow up.

By OldThudMan

Shame, shame Ms.Michele.........You ain't that big a star yet!!!

By amanda

she was at her work place, working, so much drama for nothing.
i'm not a fan of the show, but a couple of months ago met her in a coffee shop, she was a sweetheart and very polite.

By guinevere

sounds like Michele needs to chill..yes she's talented but no one likes the "look-at-me-I'm-a-star" mentality all the time..hope they both do attend the SAG awards and that Stienfield snubs Michele

By upiorzyca

i've seen more of the teen actress in ads for true grit than i've of this "diva" oh wait that's because i've never seen glee nor this petty snob and am still convinced i'm not missing much.

By ANON

Lea just lost her "blingatude".

By SRR

Met Lea twice. She was kind and gracious both times. Utterly genuine. And, frankly, given all she has to do on 'Glee' maybe, well, it just wasn't a good time.

By Mel

Seeing as Glee gets progressively worse (though no one seems to realize it) and while Lea is a decent singer, she's a terrible actress. Once that show runs its course, I imagine she'll probably be making her way back to Broadway.

By Thevoid99

The hell with Lea Michele. After all, Hailee got to work with Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon. I bet they gave her more than just autographs. After all, who wouldn't want to get an autograph from the Dude and Matt Damon? That's worth way more than Lea's autograph.

By peperann02

Lea Michele sucks. She's the worst part of Glee. She was great in Spring Awakening (on Broadway) and that's about it. She needs to get over herself, and get a nose job while she's at it.

By Ty

If the diva rumors are true, it must have been HEAVEN for Matthew Morrison during the episode about them going to sectionals this season when his charcacter yelled at hers for being rude! She does strike me as someone who is letting her success get to her head. She's talented, but not so much that she can't be kind to people or be a little humble.

By Ritchie

I don't even think that Lea Michele is that beautiful, she's average in the looks department. Her voice is not even appealing to me either...it's not smooth from one note to the other. She is talented but in terms of real raw talent, Charice, I think is the best in that whole group.

By Mark

There have been plenty of examples of past divas who's personalities have run them right out of stardom, and by all indications Lea Michele will do the same thing. She can't be too bright if she thinks that her attitude will not get her snubbed in the future. Hailee Steinfeld will someday be a big star, and Lea Michele won't be worth a dime if she doesn't learn respect for others. I never even heard of her before.

By Bill

Lea who? And Hailee is getting ripped off with a supporting actress nomination- She should have gotten a Lead Actress nomination. SHE was the one that had True Grit!

By Wesley

I can't stand stars who gets away with treating fans and people they won't with like trash. I don't care how talented they are they should be black listed and after that started happening, stars would quit treating people like they were beneath them because they would be afraid of losing everything they have.

Page 2 of 4