Why are Children Bullied? Lea Michele: Bullied Into Changing Her Name

Why are Children Bullied?

There are many reasons why children are bullied, one of which may be because of their name. Lea Michele talks here about being bullied because of her real name.

Lea Michele: Bullied Into Changing Her Name

Posted on Dec 9th 2011 10:05AM by Sarah Chazan

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There's a reason Lea Michele is so convincing as a bullied teen on the hit show 'Glee,' -- the star reveals she was the victim of bullying in her real life, too! The taunts were specifically hurtful when they came to Lea's original last name, "Sarfati." In fact, the teasing got so bad that Lea took it upon herself to change her surname altogether!

"Sarfati, that's my real last name," the star of the movie 'New Year's Eve' told Jay Leno this week (Dec. 7). "I don't use it a lot because I got 'Lea So Fatty' [and] 'Lea So Farty' in school."

Naturally all that teasing took a toll of Lea, so when she saw the opportunity to switch up her God-given name, she took it! "When I was little and I went on my first audition, they were like, 'May we have your name?' I was like 'Lea Michele' ... and I've been Lea Michele ever since!'

The 'Glee' gal may have changed her name, but there's one thing Lea refuses to alter ... her nose! Even though the unique beauty reveals she was, and is, criticized for her prominent facial feature, she won't go under the knife to change it. "I'm proud to be on a positive show and to be a voice for girls and say, 'You don't need to look like everybody else,'" Lea tells Hollywood Life. "Love who you are!"