The Untold Truth Of Idina Menzel

There are a handful of celebrity twins out there — unrelated stars who closely resemble one another. Think Jessica Chastain and Bryce Dallas Howard, or Idina Menzel and Lea Michele. But not only do the two actresses look like they're family, they're also big-voiced Broadway stars. By the time Michele jumped from the stage to television with the musical dramedy Glee in 2009, theatrical circles were already aware of the similarities. 

"We knew that existed far, far before the TV world did," Menzel's then husband Taye Diggs told Fancaster (via The Hollywood Reporter). Meanwhile, Menzel ached to be on Glee. "My husband and I TiVo it every week and we were just so jealous, we couldn't believe that we didn't have a show like that when we first got out of Rent," Menzel told Hollywood Crush (via MTV News). She added, "We just wanted to be a part of it in some way. I didn't think it would happen, and thankfully people in my camp got in touch with their peeps, and it happened!" 

Producers cast Menzel as show choir director Shelby Corcoran, the estranged mother of Michele's character, Rachel Berry. "The gig came three months after I popped a baby out so I felt fat as all hell, and I was Lea Michele's mom — like, could I just be her older sister?" Menzel said at a Tribeca Film Festival event (via Broadway World). "I had to get over myself a little bit."

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