Lea Michele Is Reportedly Returning as Rachel Berry in the Glee Reboot
Lea Michele is returning as Rachel Berry in the Glee reboot, Variety reported on Wednesday, October 21, 2026. Variety said it had confirmed the news with multiple sources, and one of them put it simply: "She's in."
The same day, Disney+ and Hulu announced that Glee has been ordered as a new series. That means the two streaming services have committed to making it. People reported the announcement, which comes more than a decade after the original show ended.
The first Glee ran for six seasons on Fox, from 2009 to 2015. Its finale aired on March 20, 2015. Michele played Rachel Berry, the show's driven lead, and earned an Emmy nomination and two Golden Globe nominations for the role.
Ryan Murphy, who created the original, is involved again. He, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan wrote the script for the reboot. Murphy told Entertainment Tonight that he had been in touch with around 10 of the original cast members about returning. E! Online reported that Murphy wrote the Rachel Berry role with Michele in mind.
Michele had already signalled interest. Weeks before the Variety report, she told E! News she would be happy to join a Glee reboot and would follow Murphy wherever he goes. Good Morning America reported that no official casting had been announced at the time of the series order. Representatives for Michele and Murphy did not comment on the casting report.
Michele's career has moved in other directions since Glee. She joined the Broadway revival of Funny Girl in 2022, playing Fanny Brice. She also appeared in Scream Queens, a Fox series from 2015 to 2016 that was another Murphy production.
For viewers, the practical picture is still forming. The Disney+ and Hulu order means a new Glee is coming, but nothing official yet places Michele in the cast list. Until the services or the production make that announcement, the casting rests on Variety's report and the comments Michele and Murphy have already made.
For the people behind the show, the order means a writers' room, a production crew and a cast to hire and schedule. Those jobs begin once a series is ordered, long before any episode reaches a screen.
