Question: Did you take singing lessons?
Answer: Before my first audition, no. Once I got into the business a few months, I got an agent and took singing and acting lessons.

Question: How do you handle stage-fright?
Answer: For my first performance of "Les Miz", I was so nervous, I don't even remember it. The second show was even worse. But now that I'm so used to it, I only get nervous when my friends are in the audience, so I try not to know when they're there. Also, because of the lights on stage come towards us (the actors), they block out the audience. So I feel like I'm seeing a black curtain, and I can't really see the audience.

Question: Do you go to school?
Answer: I go to school everyday except Wednesday (when she performs in the matinee). On days I miss school, I usually talk to my friend or guidance counslor and find out what homework I have. And I have a tutor just in case I need help with studying for tests. But it is very difficult to study and perform at the same time. At the beginning of the day I'm a normal kid, and hanging out with my friends, and at the end of the day when I have to do an evening show, I have to play a serious girl. It's kind of hard to get my mind set from one thing to another.

Question: Do you want to stay in show business?
Answer: Well, I definitely want to finish school. I want to be an actress, but I want to learn something else, just in case.

Question: Is there someone you'd like to work with?
Answer: Oh, Leonardo DiCaprio! If I could ever meet anyone, it would be him. Or Matt Damon.

Question: Have you seen "Titanic" yet?
Answer: Yes, I have the video - my friend knows someone in the business, so I got a copy of it. But I've only watched it once, because it's so sad!

As part of Ragtime's world-premiere cast in Canada, Lea Michele is happy to be back on Broadway, where she previously appeared in (what else?) Les Miz. "I'm really enjoying it; it's really fun," says Lea. "Now that we're in New York, I'm home, I'm going to school, and I'm with my mom and dad." Lea describes The Little Girl as "a fun character. During the first act, she's really shy. In the second act, she totally changes; she's out of her shell."

Lea created a background for her character. "I believe she saw her mother being killed; that's my interpretation. Her father decides to move to America, and they go through a rough time. She worries, because if she loses her father, who would she have? Then, the audience sees Tateh as a movie director and The Little Girl is wearing a beautiful dress. She's able to talk to people; she's not shy anymore.

"I can make up anything, because they don't really tell you anything. Every night, I find something new." What she likes best is her character's transition. "My favorite part of the show is 'Nothing Like the City.' She meets The Little Boy. It's the first time you see her interacting with a child her own age. She becomes angry with him; she yells at him--and that's really exciting!"

If possible, is there anything she'd like to change about the Girl? "The one thing I still can never figure out," says Lea, "is how at one point she's very shy, and a few scenes later, she's out of her shell, yelling at the boy. Then, in the next scene, she's totally to herself. I think I would try to make The Little Girl more even."

Might she give some notes to director Frank Galati? Laughs Lea, "I wouldn't go that far."

The Bronx-born Lea, who's an only child, turns 12 on August 29th. "It was a weird situation how I got into show business. My friend loved Les Miz. Her mother would take her to see it once or twice a month. She'd always say, 'I'm going to be Cosette. I'm going to be a Broadway star.' That was her big dream. Mine was just to go to school, and have fun with my friends.

"My friend got an audition, and her mother got sick and couldn't take her. She asked my mother to take her. The day before we went, I said, 'I'd like to audition, Mom.' I had seen Phantom, and I sang 'Angel of Music.' A few weeks later, I was on the stage. I really owe my career to my friend. It took her a long time to get over it."

Her pastimes, Lea says, "are arts and crafts. My favorite hobby is being with my friends."

Lea wants to remain an actress when she gets older. "Broadway is a great place to start. You get to meet a lot of famous people, and you get a good taste of show business. But I really would like to start doing film."