Lea Michele: 'Bullies made me change my name'

Glee star Lea Michele appeared on last night's Jay Leno show in a stunning Emilio Pucci dress - and revealed how school bullies made her change her surname.

Lea Michele, Glee, Lea Michele, Jay Leno show, Lea Michele real name
Lea Michele, Glee, Lea Michele, Jay Leno show, Lea Michele real name
(Image credit: REX)

Glee star Lea Michele appeared on last night's Jay Leno show in a stunning Emilio Pucci dress - and revealed how school bullies made her change her surname.

Glee star Lea Michele appeared on last night's Jay Leno show in a stunning Emilio Pucci dress - and revealed how school bullies made her change her surname.

The actress appeared on Jay Leno's show last night and revealed that she wasn't always 'Lea Michele'.

'Sarfati. That's my real last name,' the actress told Leno. 'I don't use it a lot because I got Lea So-fatty, Lea So-farty at school.

'So when I was little and I went on my first audition they were like, "And may we have your name," and I was like Lea Michele.

'And I've been Lea Michele ever since.'

When Leno asked her about the origin of the Sarfati name, Michele added: 'It's Sephardic, which is Spanish/Jew. 'We're from Spain, got kicked out.'

To which Leno joked: 'Now why did you get kicked out. Was the skirt too short?'

The 25-year-old actress looked fabulous in a black and gold Emilio Pucci mini dress with a sexy keyhole design and plunging neckline, leaving Leno wide-eyed.

'You clean up good! That is one of the great dresses of all time,' quipped the host.

NEW YEARS EVE ON-SET MOVIE PICS

Lea is currently promoting her latest film New Years Eve, also starring Ashton Kutcher, Halle Berry, Jessica Biel, Zac Efron and Hilary Swank. Phew!

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