Lea Michele's Tough La Life

Lea Michele's Tough La Life

Lea Michele finds it "hard" living in Los Angeles.

The 24-year-old actress - who plays Rachel Berry in musical TV series 'Glee' - goes home to her native New York as often as she can because she doesn't feel comfortable living in California.

She said: "I miss it. A lot of kids go through life trying to figure out who they are. But when you grow up in New York, you figure it out, because you can be yourself there. I feel like you can't be yourself in Los Angeles. It's very pretty when you visit, but if you're a real New Yorker, it's hard to live in Los Angeles. I don't like to do a lot of the things that girls like to do here. I don't go to clubs. I have a very quiet life."

Lea's first acting role was in a production of 'Les Miserables' on New York's Broadway when she was just eight years old after accompanying a friend to an audition.

However, the brunette beauty insists she never dreamed of becoming an actress and had her heart set on being a shop assistant when she was younger.

She explained to Australia's Daily Telegraph newspaper: "It was a joke, I just went to support my friend. But I auditioned and I got it. It was total luck.

"At that point, I wanted to work as a waiter or in a grocery store - I had that fake grocery store with the toy food and money; I was eight years old - but I auditioned for Broadway and I got it. And I went from show to show until I came out to Los Angeles when I was 21.

"I never regretted my job. It never got in the way to the degree that I felt I needed to stop."