The Biggest Regret Idina Menzel Has About Her Glee Role
She considered turning it down for a surprising reason.
During its six-season run, Glee was certainly one of the most popular TV projects, and many actors tried to land a role on it. However, some of the stars who ended up being cast actually thought of turning down the opportunity to work with Ryan Murphy early on in the negotiations.
Iconic singer and actress Idina Menzel, famous for voicing Elsa in Frozen, was one of those performers, and her reluctance to join Glee was actually quite understandable.
In the show's first season, Menzel played Shelby Corcoran, the coach of the rival New Directions show choir and Rachel Berry's long-lost mother. People loved the way Idina approached playing such a conflicted character, and her portrayal of Shelby is still considered one of the best in Glee history.
But it turns out the actress wasn't actually sure she wanted to play Rachel's mother, and here's why.
The thing is, just a few months before she was approached by Murphy to star in the show, Idina became a mother herself and had to deal with some weight issues. But that's obviously not the reason why she struggled to make a decision — in fact, the star was a little offended to be asked to play someone's mother instead of their sister.
'I had my son Walker, and then three months later, I got the call. I couldn't fit into any of the costumes. You're worried you're not going to work again, and then people hire you to be someone's mother when you probably should be their older sister. It just wasn't great for the ego,' Menzel explained.
In any case, Idina did the right thing by agreeing to star in Glee, as her performance really helped the show generate some hype back in Season 1. It was also a big TV breakthrough for the actress herself, as she had previously spent years in various Broadway shows.
Now it looks like Menzel remembers her insecurities during the filming of Glee as a funny anecdote, and fans are ready to laugh with her, knowing full well that the actress can accept or reject any role she wants.