Naya Rivera is getting candid about her time on Glee.
The 29-year-old actress opened up about her experiences with co-star Lea Michele in her new book Sorry, Not Sorry: Dreams, Mistakes & Growing Up.
“One of the Glee writers once said that Lea and I were like two sides of the same battery and that about sums us up,” Naya wrote. “We are both strong willed and competitive — not just with each other but with everyone — and that’s not a good mixture.”
Naya continued, “As the show progressed, though, that friendship started to break down, especially as Santana moved from a background character to one with bigger plot lines and more screen time. I think Rachel — erm, I mean Lea — didn’t like sharing the spotlight. On top of that, she had a hard time separating work from our outside friendship, whereas it was a lot easier for me. I’m not offended when people offer feedback or criticism, and if things get heated on set, I try to keep perspective. We’re all stressed, yes, but we’re all working toward the same goal, so laugh it off and keep it movin’. Lea was a lot more sensitive, though, and it seemed like she blamed me for anything and everything that went wrong.”
“If I’d complained about anyone or anything, she’d assumed I was b-tching about her,” Naya wrote. “Soon, she started to ignore me, and eventually it got to the point where she didn’t say a word to me for all of season six. Lea and I definitely weren’t the best of friends, and I doubt we’ll ever sit on her couch and eat kale together again, but the rumors of our ‘feud’ were blown out of proportion.”
As for Lea‘s relationship with Cory Monteith, Naya wrote, “When Cory and Lea started dating, it was a total surprise. The more serious they got, the less Cory hung out with us and the more he seemed like a different person. One year he came back from the break between seasons super skinny. He said he’d been spending a lot of time at the gym and was trying to be responsible — not spending money all the time and buying crazy cars like he used to. My personal feelings for Lea aside, I knew that she wasn’t a partier, so I felt like maybe their relationship could actually be good for him. I was happy for Cory to have a stable influence in his life, wherever it was he found it.”
