Lea Michele Says Motherhood ‘Softened Me,’ Plus: She Talks New Album and Return to Broadway

Lea Michele is opening up to “Extra’s” Cheslie Kryst about being a mom, her new lullaby album, and being back on Broadway.

Lea and her husband Zandy Reich welcomed their first child, son Ever Leo, in August 2020, and Lea shared, “Although my son is 14 months, I’m still saying new mom — he'll be 7 years old and I’ll be, ‘I’m still a new mom, you guys.’”

Revealing her favorite part of motherhood, she said, “He just started saying ‘mama.’” Cheslie asked if she cried the first time he said it, and Lea confirmed, “Yeah, it's as good as you might feel it might be.”

What has she learned from becoming a parent? The star said, “I feel like it definitely has softened me a lot and I probably could have used a little softening, and he really is just the thing that has changed me the most and I’m so grateful.”

Especially grateful after what she calls “an intense pregnancy,” with “a lot of complications.”

Lea said, “In the midst of the pandemic, I was sort of in and out of hospitals and stuff like that... which added an extra layer of stress and anxiety… Once my son was born… having that private, special time with him… Now we're getting back into the swing of life and introducing our son to the world and it's really wonderful.”

Michele, who got her big break on “Glee,” has no problem with her son possibly following in her famous footsteps. “I'm not just saying this, truly… he'll go, like, ‘La la,’ and I’ll be like… ‘Oh, my God — okay!’ I’m like, ‘Don't you want to be a doctor? A lawyer?’” But singing and acting? “If that's what he wanted to do, it would be amazing.”

Cheslie hinted, “Maybe someday he'll make a cameo.” Lea teased, “Blue Ivy has a Grammy, so it's like, ‘Ever, come on!’”

Her new music is also a nod to motherhood — her album of lullabies, “Forever,” is named for her son. The album will feature "Sweet Child O' Mine," "Here Comes the Sun," "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," "Oh, What a World," "Yellow," "Songbird," "1000 Years," and "Lullaby."

The album is out November 5, and Michele explained, “I wanted to make a lullaby album even before I was a mom, just because I think that it's such a beautiful genre of music. I’ve always wanted to become a mother, and knowing that I could then use my voice in that way it just was so exciting for me.” She went on, “I left the doctor's office completely surprised. We'd been trying for a while and unsuccessfully, and then this very surprise miracle happened… and the first thing I did was I put my headphones in and I listened to Kacey Musgraves’ ‘Golden Hour.’”

She continued, “’What a World’ came on… and the minute I heard that song and the lyrics, I was like, ‘This is going to be on a lullaby album that I make.’”

Lea is also returning to Broadway for a one-night-only concert with some of the original cast of “Spring Awakening,” an appearance benefiting The Actors Fund. The event takes place November 15 at the Imperial Theatre.