Actress and singer Lea Michele is best known for her golden voice, but nowadays her current role is being a mom to her 4-year-old son, Ever. This spring, Michele announced that she was expecting her second child with husband Zandy Reich, revealing in a Mother’s Day post on Instagram that she is having a girl.
Mom.com got to chat with Lea Michele via Zoom about her current partnership with popular brand Children’s Tylenol, the challenges and demands of starring in her dream Broadway role with a toddler at home, having an amazing support system of women in her life, and what she’s most excited about now that she’s going to be a mom of two.
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She opened up about starring in the Broadway revival of ‘Funny Girl’ with a toddler at home
In 2022, Michele stepped into the role that she called the “dream of my life,” playing Fanny Brice in the first revival of the musical Funny Girl on Broadway.
Michele credits her ability to take the role on to the “incredible support” of her family and having them as a “safety net” as she went back to work. “It's just so much preparation that I could do, but it was really just sort of about figuring it out as we were going,” she admitted.
“It was certainly very hard,” she confessed, saying that her husband gave her “amazing support” while she was working.
“There are inevitably going to be days where leaving the house is challenging,” she shared. “It was certainly a challenging role and a very jam-packed year, but to have the opportunity to do what I love and then also come home to my family at the end of the day, it's life's greatest gift.”
Despite the challenges, she is proud to have shared that time with her son
When Michele took the role, Ever was 2 years old, and she says that the toddler “really understood” what his mom’s job was. She praised him for the “unbelievable” feat of being able to sit through the entire musical at such a young age. “He was super proud of me and he was clapping for me and it was really lovely,” she said. “Getting to perform on the stage and look in the audience and see my son and my husband there was probably one of the greatest days of my life.”
But even though Ever was a champ and sat through the show once, that was enough for him.
“My husband took him to the theater to pick me up from work,” Michele shared. “And he said, ‘Daddy, we're just going to go pick mommy up. Right? Because that show is really long.’” Too cute!
She's also currently in a partnership with Children’s Tylenol
As she prepares to welcome baby number two, Michele has teamed up with Children’s Tylenol, the #1 pediatrician-recommended brand of pain and fever relief, to share the importance of having a stocked medicine cabinet with other parents. As a working mom, she knows that having convenient and trustworthy solutions to the many unexpected things that come up with kids is invaluable.
“The Dye-Free Cherry Liquid has been a savior for us,” Michele explained. With a preschooler at home, illnesses are incredibly common, and having a trusted medication you can go to does create peace of mind.
“When your child gets sick, it can certainly be very anxiety-provoking and scary, but to have products on hand that you know work can definitely help you get through those times,” she added.
As she prepares for baby number two, Michele is leaning on her vast network of women for support
Michele is one of many celebrities who is welcoming a baby this year. She certainly has an amazing network of moms she can reach out to, which is so important for any mom, not just a famous one.
“I'm so grateful to have this wonderful tribe of women, especially the women who are working moms in the industry who I can lean on for support or questions,” she said.
But it’s actually the women closest to her — her family — that she is most excited to share this pregnancy with.
“I'm so happy to also be back in New York where my family is. I have all of my aunts and cousins and my mom back in the Bronx,” she explained. “My family is so super important to me and to have them close by to continue family traditions and things like that — I'm really grateful to be able to give our son that experience.”
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What makes her most excited about being a mom of two?
Michele is an only child, and is “so happy to be able to give” Ever a sibling. “I'm really looking forward to seeing them together and seeing him being a big brother.” She shared that Ever is “so sweet and excited” about becoming a big brother. “I think that the age gap is good because he really can understand and process” what becoming a big brother means.
“He's so sweet, coming up and rubbing my belly and trying to talk to the baby. I can't even imagine what it's going to be like to see them together. I'm sure it will be so incredible and very emotional.”
She also shared that she and her husband are trying to “soak up this time” while they’re still a family of three. Since it’s summer, the family doesn’t have to deal with the “hustle and bustle of the busy preschool year,” which means they get to have “easy mornings” together as a family.
“I'm so thankful that we were given this blessing, and to be able to give him a sibling,” she says of Ever. “I feel so fortunate. I think that's what I'm the most excited about: to just see them together.”
