Ilya S. Savenok/Getty, Sean Zanni/Patrick McMullan
Idina Menzelwas not entirely gleeful at the prospect of playingLea Michele’s on-screen mom.
Now, over a decade after her debut episode of the Fox show aired — when Menzel was 38 and Michele was 23 — theFrozenstar is opening up about how it felt to play the mother of a teenager right after welcoming her first child,Walker, in real life.
Put simply, it “wasn’t great” for her ego, Menzel said in a new interview withStellar Magazine.
“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,” she told the Irish magazine (viaThe New York Post).
“It just wasn’t great for the ego,” Menzel admitted, adding that she “sucked it up” because she “was excited to work with [showrunner]Ryan Murphyand be a part of that hit show.”
TheEnchantedstar shared that when received the offer to portray Corcoran, she had just given birth and feared that opportunities like her role onGleewould become increasingly rare.
“I had my son Walker and then three months later, I got the call,” she reflected. “And so I said, ‘yes.’”
The Tony winner said that she not only “sucked it up” but also “sucked myself into my clothes” — literally. The then-new-mom was still breastfeeding, and “couldn’t fit into any of the costumes,” she told the magazine.
FOX Image Collection via Getty
After her introduction in season 1 of the series, the actress’Gleejourney was far from over.
She went on to play the rival show choir coach sporadically for three more seasons, solidifying herself as an iconic character through performances of songs including “Poker Face” and “Somewhere" — both duets with Michele.
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Menzel’s journey with motherhood has also continued in full force.
TheUncut Gemsstar co-parents 13-year-old Walker with ex-husbandTaye Diggs. Nowmarried toactorAaron Lohr, 47, the “Let It Go” singer underwent in-vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments during her 2018 national tour in an attempt to become pregnant with Lohr’s child.
“Maybe before meeting me, [Lohr] didn’t think he wanted to have kids, and then he sees how good of a dad he can be, so I wanted that for him” Menzeltold PEOPLElast December, adding that the actor “has been the most amazing man to [Walker].”
Idina Menzel and her son Walker, whom she shares with ex-husband Taye Diggs.Allen Berezovsky/Getty
Four years after wrapping the tour and ceasing the treatments without becoming pregnant, Menzel told PEOPLE that she felt content with the results of her IVF journey, and said that both she and her husband “moved beyond that.”
“I have this amazing son and I was fortunate enough to have him,” the singer said of Walker. “And the pregnancy was pretty easy and I conceived easily, and there’s a lot of people that don’t even get to have that.”
“[Lohr] sees Walker as his own kid at this point anyway,” she added. “I think we feel content and lucky with what we have.”
source: people.com
