Photo: Bruce Glikas/WireImage
Lea Micheleonce had feelings for formerSpring AwakeningcostarJonathan Groff.
In the upcoming HBO documentarySpring Awakening: Those You’ve Known, the actress reveals that she was starting to fall for Groff — who played her love interest in the Tony Award-winning Broadway show — in real life shortly after they met around 15 years ago.
“Lea and I were given this material where we had to fall in love,” Groff says in the documentary, airing May 3 on HBO and streaming on HBO Max.
Michele, who was 19 whenSpring Awakeningdebuted Off-Broadway in 2006 prior to its Broadway transfer, played the naïve Wendla Bergmann to Groff’s Melchior Gabor. Eager to learn more about her developing body and sexual desires, Wendla turns to Melchior for the answers — and the two develop strong feelings for one another in the process.
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Life was imitating art for Michele and Groff, who were both discovering more about themselves and their sexualities both on stage and off.
“Lea and I, we were grasping onto each other, we were really in love,” Groff explains in the documentary. However, he says, he was still coming to terms with his sexual identity.
Unaware of his sexuality at the time, Michele — who describes Groff as a “country mouse” — says she “felt like I had to take him under my wing.” She adds, “But then I fell in love with him in more ways than one.”
Groff adds, “Lea and I were so young, we were still figuring out who we were. We were playing these parts, but we were working s— out with each other.”
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Eventually, Michele says, “I wassoin love with him.” And things came to a head when she decided to make her feelings known.
“Finally, I cornered him at a party, and I said to him, ‘Why don’t you love me? Just love me. Why can’t you love me? Date me. Love me.’ And I just saw this look in his eyes, and in that moment, I knew,” she says. “I realized in that moment, ‘This is the end.’ And I need to protect this. This is intense.”
“And I never asked him again about his sexuality and it was sort of this… I think he felt safe with me because he knew that I knew and thatwe could be best friends, and our relationship just grew and grew to the point that we would do the show and then we would go home together. That’s why Jonathan and I became so close. We were so intertwined.”
These days, the two — who attended the premiere of theSpring Awakening: Those You’ve Knowndocumentary Monday in New York City — are still inseparable.
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In aninterview with PEOPLEahead of the premiere, Michele revealed that she would be willing to be Groff’s surrogate if the actor ever decides he wants to be a father.
Michele said, “Hell yeah! I love being pregnant. It’s so much fun.”
“Good to know,” Groff replied.
Spring Awakening: Those You’ve Knownwill debut May 3 at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and will be available to stream on HBO Max.
source: people.com
