I have mixed feelings about Lea Michele on this Elle Mag cover (for the December issue). On one side, she has every right to promote her work and move through the grieving process in public and private, however she needs to deal with her boyfriend’s death. And I do get the feeling that Lea still doesn’t know what to say or how to present herself in public because she’s been thrown for such a loop. On the other side… I want to be able to say something about how terrible the styling is for this Elle shoot, but I don’t want to be “The Blogger Who Criticized a Girl Who Just Lost Her Boyfriend.” But seriously, the styling is horrendous. It has nothing to do with grief or whatever, it’s just a really bad makeup job and bad clothes. You can see Elle’s slideshow here, and here are some highlights from the story:
On how she’s handling Cory Monteith’s death:
“I never thought I would be in this position in my whole life. Now that I am in this position, you can choose to rise, and that’s what I’m going to try to do. I know that Cory would want nothing more than for me to take this situation and use it to help people.”On relying on friend Kate Hudson during the difficult time after Monteith’s passing:
“I called [Kate Hudson] and said, ‘I don’t know where I’m going to go because my house is swarmed [with reporters].’ She was like, ‘Oh, you’re going to stay at my house.’ Like it was nothing. No one knew I was there. I’ll never really be able to thank her, truly, for what she did for me.”On taking time to heal:
“It’s very hard. And you have to be very strong to come out of this alive, but I think by doing the best for myself, by showing that you don’t have to lose yourself, maybe someone else will feel some sort of strength or comfort.”On why she never expected her career in television to take off:
“I was told my whole life I would never do television because I was too ethnic. I was 100 percent focused and ready to be the best in the world [of Broadway] I was in.”
That was nice of Kate Hudson to offer her home to Lea. I respect what Lea says here: “Now that I am in this position, you can choose to rise, and that’s what I’m going to try to do.” That’s what I keep getting from Lea too, that she’s still processing Cory’s death and that she hasn’t seen the light at the tunnel yet. She’s still TRYING to rise.
Photos courtesy of Carter Smith/ELLE.
Good gravy. Someone got a little heavy handed with the contour on her nose.
Step away from the eyeliner, too.
The outfits are ugly and the wide-angle Sharpie applied under her eyes make her look like a raccoon.
It doesn’t make her nose look smaller, it really looks swollen .
That’s BAD contouring. A good makeup artist would know how to contour the nose up to a point where you can’t tell whether it’s a nose job or just contouring… This one is just awful.
Who said she was too ethnic for TV? Fair play Lea Michele hasn’t gotten a nose job and it hasn’t hindered her success.
I don’t think her success is long lasting until she has it outside of Glee. Many actors have had success as 1 character on 1 TV show, but fail to transition to anything else. Do we still consider them successful? What else has she been in that did well? and i’m not even including that valentine ensemble movie.
She was a pretty solid broadway baby before hand. The Les Mis revivial, Fiddler on the Roof with Mandy Patinkin and had the lead and breakout role in Spring Awakening. (which won the best musical tony)
I don’t think she’ll be a big tv/movie star after glee, but will head back to the theatre much like Audra McDonald did after private practice.
L
Though it has happened it’s pretty difficult to make the leap from Broadway to Hollywood. Easier to go from Hollywood o Broadway by far. It’s a different kind of fame and success measured in different ways. Apples to Oranges.
If she does return to Braodway she won’t have the constant mag covers and attention. I think she would really miss that fame and attention.
I was confused by that remark. Do you think she’s “ethnic” looking? I don’t look at her and see any particular ethnicity.
Lea herself spoke in interviews about how in auditions she was asked to get a nose job and if Streisand refused and still had success she could too. It was covered on this site.
Oh, I see. I missed that. Thanks.
What has she been in besides Glee and other musical things? It certainly seems to get harder for her to get roles because her nose makes her look distinctly ethnic (as in Southern European, Jewish, or even b/w mixed, which is what I thought she was the first time I saw her on glee). There is a lot of pressure for white actresses to have a very specific small, skinny, straight nose. That’s why nose surgery for women in Hollywood is the rule, not the exception. ScarJo gets crap about her nose, and it is far less ethnic than Lea’s (and I think that ScarJo has had a nose job herself, but one that preserves more of her ethnicness). I’m pretty sure the heavy eye makeup was meant to distract from her nose, here, too, so it’s at play in this very photo shoot. I’m not a big fan of LM, but I do support her getting work to promote different types of beauty.
Lea is phenominally talented, and yet did you notice that for as much as we saw Dianna Agron in movies and all over the place, no Lea Michelle? So yes, she is hindered. And yes, it amazes me that looking Jewish (because ‘ethnic’ is a polite way of saying that) is still a hindrance.
Will you stop with the Jewish thing? Dianna Agron, who you mentioned, was raised Jewish, unlike Lea Michele, who was raised in her mother’s Catholic faith. It is pretty obscene to be taking about Lea being “Jewish”, and as always people like you ignore actual Jewish actors like Natalie Portman, Logan Lerman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Andrew Garfield, Mila Kunis, and the list goes on and on.
Why did they give her raccoon eyes? I agree this is some of the worst styling I’ve seen in a long time. I don’t have an opinion of her one way or the other, but I do feel badly for her that she’s grieving, especially in the public spotlight. I detest Kate Hudson, but good on her for letting this girl hide out at her place.
That white dress with the lace … boots?! She looks like she’s been hosting speed-addled spiders, and then waded through a vat of Marmite.
With you on this, styling is atrocious! And KH isn’t a favorite, but she did a good thing. Seriously, give the girl some time, it’s only been a few months. Grieving is a very long and never ending process people.
Blind Gossip reveals that her fauxmance with Corey was born in a publicist’s office… they were friends as are the rest of the cast but she isn’t mourning the loss of actual love
hmm. Too many personal photos… and she was one of three people who planned/attended his funeral. Including his family. I think it was real. Maybe it started as PR, but I don’t think it ended that way.
Lots of celebrity’s are set up by their people. That was how Timberlake and.Diaz got together (still, such a weird pairing) and how Pitt and Aniston got together.
The styling of that photo shoot is horrendous.
I do feel badly for her about Cory Monteith though. It would be really hard to lose someone you love to addiction. I hope she does somehow manage to use this to help others.
The blinds say she and cory were a fake couple and now she’s in the uncomfortable position of being the widow girlfriend. I’m sure they were good friends, but I never thought they were anything but a PR creation.
Blinds take little bits of truths with plausable outcomes to create rumors. They’re hit and miss. Many don’t get revealed at all because they’re so off base.
Big butt wannabe lands egotistical artist. Causes rift in their large family…. Who could it be? Key words draw you to think only 1 or 2 posibilities.
I’ve noticed when a real BI comes out for guessing the news is already a rumor on another gossip site. It’s a good time waster.
CDAN does that for sure and I agree probably 95% of blinds are bs. But PR hook ups do happen and I think this one was one of them.
Yes I agree most blinds are b.s. but I didn’t need a blind gossip site to make me suspect these were a fake couple. Or maybe they were real once but broken up at the time of his death. Either way, I recognize she’s in a very difficult position now & has every right to spin things however she wishes, but her comments in this article do seem to support the fake theory. They just come off as a little… vacant? rehearsed? that kind of motivational-speech-fake?
Yes, it’s very nice of Kate to donate her home to Lea so she could grab her bearings. But for the record she & Kate did *not* stay together as some reports are saying. Kate was in London filming a movie and on tour in Europe with Matt & Muse for the entire summer. I agree it’s a bit famewhorey for Lea to even mention it. And the sad thing is that I actually like Lea and wish her well.
maggpie/mazzystar
I agree. it all sounds like it could have happened and the info needed to dispute it would be near impossible to come by unless we were flies on the walls.
Lea’s comments are possibly rehearsed. They should be. A bad interview will haunt you forever and many celebs can’t speak off the cuff without sounding full of themselves or stupid.
Ya but in the article she comes right out and says her big dilemma was staying at KH’s house to avoid photographers — she made no mention of needing a place to stay for the purpose of grieving.
I dont get this comment. Isn’t it obvious she would be grieving AND trying to avoid vulturistic photographers? Why are these things mutually exclusive?
Aemish
It’s implied. How easy would it be for anyone to grieve if you also fearedpeople are actively trying to invade your privacy when you’re so vulnerable. Or that you’d be hounded if you left to meet a friend instead of being trapped in your home.
Yes she’s famous and there’s the price to pay with that, but she’s human dealing with a loss like everyone else. She may have said she went to avoid paps at her house, but in the context of the events itwas to grieve privately.
I agree with you – im pretty sure their relationship was a PR set up – that doesnt take away from the fact that it still sucks to lose a friend – but what an awkward position to be in. I just feel like if i lost the man i loved the last thing i would want to do is a photo shoot with ELLE talking about how strong i am. it just seems tacky to pull the whole im strong thing. If you really loved him, go help out kids who are in the same situation.
I get it. When my husband passed, I cried myself numb for a week and then I just needed to do something ‘normal’, so I went shopping. As you can imagine my in-laws were scandalised and made it clear that they ruspected that I was glad he had gone. So I tokd them to send me the rule book on how to grieve properly or leave me be. They left me alone after that. There are no rules here, Lea has to find what works for her. If doing a photo shoot lifted the darkness for abit, why should it bother you?
Sorry about your loss KC. You’re right, there are no rules.
I still think they were a fake couple but even if they weren’t I don’t see what the problem is with doing a photo shoot. Maybe it helps to get out, work…not be home all the time thinking about it. I’ve never been in that position so I for one cannot say.
But why? First of all, reporters are asking her these questions–is she supposed to lie or refuse to answer? Second, i’m sorry, but those of you who seem to think she isn’t grieving right need to know that grief has no roadmap. I get the impression none of you have lost someone you are close to, and i am truly very glad for that, but no one gets to tell anyone else how they should react when a loved one dies. You grab strength and control anywhere you can. The day after my brother died i was back to my regular activities because i needed normalcy. You cant just sit around crying for months on end or your whole life falls apart.
Jmeow Exactly! Did anyone else notice her comment: “You’ve got to be strong to come out of this alive.” A little insensitive??
This is her experience, too. It’s not all about Cory. Amd yes, sometimes just feeling like you made it through the day alive is enough.
I also think the relationship was a PR set up. But I think she defo lost a friend and suddenly found herself in an extremely awkward situation. She sure is milking it though…
I don’t think she’s milking it at all. She’s been pretty much silent and out of the spotlight since his death in July. Only in the past month or so since the Glee tribute has she started becoming more active on Instagram and been spotted more frequently out. 5 months is a reasonable time. Whether or not the relationship was for PR, they were close- personally and professionally. I’ve lost a close friend before, and it’s a confusing thing to happen. And no matter how weird it is, eventually you need to start getting out and doing normal things. Her normal is photoshoots and show business. Good for her.
@KC, so sorry for your loss and you’re completely right. You’re entitled to grieve however you like. Being in the funeral business, I’ve seen it all and would never judge someone’s grief as inappropriate or less than (just because they grieve differently than me). I hope you’re feeling some closure at this point, and that you didn’t let the opinions of your in-laws interfere with your grieving process.
She’s a pretty woman but the eyeliner in the top photo is too much, it’s too harsh I think.
I’ll just comment on the styling, which I think is both good and bad. I love the clothes and accessories on the cover look. The hair is so-so, but looks damp and weighed-down. The makeup is hideous. I understand a smokey eye. I understand a bit of a heavy hand. This is neither of those – it is flat-out bad. BAD. And I have no clue on that last picture by the car. Oh, and her body looks great although I think Photoshop magic may have lengthened her a tad or two. Or four.
Her facial expression on that cover is….awkward. Not good.
I can’t with this girl: she is too fake. Talk about rehearsed answers…
I feel the same way. I would hold more respect for her had she never revealed how Kate helped her out. There was absolutely no reason to bring this up aside to name drop. I would like to see her just stop talking about Corey’s death all together. That’s private and should stay that way.
She’s a try-hard with over-hyped vocal talent and less acting ability. Once her Glee days are done, so will be her career.
THIS!!!!
I love the styling….the makeup is wrong but everything else is happening.
#1) Holy cow, the eyeliner…
#2) I don’t know about blinds, but I thought it was known – even before his death – that Monteith was gay, and Lea was his beard – yes? no?
I don’t know about him being gay, but glee has a rabid fanbase, and I believe that that kind of publicity (the relationship) would be good publicity. I don’t know. They just never seemed like a real couple to me. Good friends maybe.
If an actor can be openly gay on any show, it’s Glee.
Why would they give the shoot a really sexy style only to have her talking about her dead boyfriend in the interview? This shoot seems so tacky given the interviews subject matter.
Right? And the styling really is terrrrrrrrible.
I dont think it us supposed to be sexy. Sad raccoon eyes, more like.
I hate that every actress now is expected to be a model. Some of them just aren’t.
Agreed a million times over! She looks all kinds of fug there!
Why with the montaging of the faces? And not even done well. Look at that left eye in comparison to the right one. Urrgh! Makes me mad, people shitting on the craft!
Sigh…this is just a terrible shoot. The styling, the awkwardly forced poses, the facial expressions – everything is wrong with it.
Grief is a bitch.
I’m very sorry that she lost her boyfriend, but I still can’t stand her.
Bohdi!! I haven’t seen you here in awhile!! 🙂 it’s nice to see the long timers on!!
I don’t know who she is, but that is some very unflattering styling.
Stop with the raccoon eyes! Argh!!!
The styling on the cover is horrendous. It’s like they turned her into Shania Twain after a coke bender. I am quickly falling in love with the car photo though.
PR stunt or not, I wish her the best in her grief.
I came to say pretty much the same thing. Styling is deplorable, but I too love the car picture.
one of the worst covers i´ve ever seen… wow they made her look like a long-haired man with racoon eyes
I feel bad for Lea. No matter what she does, people make her the bad guy. She didn’t do enough to help Cory while he was alive, and now that he’s gone her interviews are fake, she’s an attention whore, she didn’t spend enough time away from work, she went back to work too fast, she isn’t grieving the right way…. she can’t win, and that’s just what’s on top of her grief. God forbid she ever have another boyfriend because it’ll be way too soon or way too late for everyone.
Grief is different for everyone and you just can’t wear it on your sleeve all the time, or you will go insane. It’s bad enough to go through it without being insulted by others for “doing it wrong” (usually by people who have never experienced a sudden loss of a loved one). It’s hard enough to deal with the guilt of smiling or laughing or not crying and just living, without other people (who are, luckily for them, totally clueless) telling you that you don’t miss the person or you don’t care enough because you’re not doing exactly what they think you should do in grief.
So true, msw. It is so hard and lonely to go through grief. I have no idea what the nature of their r’ship was, but questioning any grieving person’s path is gross.
I think it’s interesting how no one anywhere especially here is noticing how freaking skinny she got since Cory died, she’s looking so unhealthy it’s so scary. She’s got Kimmy’s syndrome of lifeless eyes, That worries me way more than the horrible (yes) styling although kinda cool location and props used on the shoot.
She’s too skinny, is this girl eating? Her and Nicole Richie could have a face-off to see who’s skinnier.
No seriously, if you’ve been watching glee since S01, you will understand what I mean. Girl is skinny.
Every pic I see of her she looks sooooo off balance..like she’s gonna fall off a wagon..oh wait she did. My bad.
Those pictures are awful. If you don’t say it someone else will
I will never again be a Lea critic. The girl has handled a devastating blow with grace and dignity. She has gotten herself back up and is trying to move on. I love her quote: “Now that I am in this position, you can choose to rise, and that’s what I’m going to try to do”. She didn’t say she is, she saying she is going to try. I cannot imagine what these last few months have been like for her. She’s lost weight, she has a sadness and has lost some of the light in her eyes. Everytime I really think about it my heart breaks for her. I have no doubt her and Cory were a real couple. They worked closely together and from what I understand he was an amazing person. Why wouldn’t she be attracted to that.
Now what I can do is I can criticize Elle and the horrific make up, styling, photo shoot they did here. It is AWFUL!!!
She looks great! Wish I could look as good as her 🙂
That eyeliner is awful!! It’s all you can focus on in that picture. And not in a good way lol
Wow…so people are throwing out the “everyone knew he was gay” shit on someone who’s dead? Never heard *anything* about gay rumors regarding Cory.
But I guess people will believe anything if it’s someone they don’t like. I *loathe* the KKlan, and I DO believe that Kimmodes fat ass is harboring another, unknown (k)LardASShian!! We should be *very* scared!!! :p
The “look” is 90’s…
Wet curl hair, chain belts etc. I think the idea is cool, but they didn’t take it far enough to have an impact. The jacket on the front cover should be much flashier or the pants should be different- the sleek look of the jacket doesn’t blend with the clank of the pants.