| Rachel Berry | |
|---|---|
| Glee character | |
Lea Michele as Rachel, performing "Somebody to Love" on the Glee Live! In Concert! tour |
|
| First appearance | "Pilot" |
| Created by | Ryan Murphy Brad Falchuk Ian Brennan |
| Portrayed by | Lea Michele |
| Information | |
| Occupation | High school student |
| Family | Shelby Corcoran (biological mother) Unnamed fathers |
| Significant other(s) | Finn Hudson Jesse St. James |
| Religion | Judaism |
Rachel Berry is a fictional character and de facto female lead from the Fox musical comedy-drama series Glee. The character is portrayed by actress Lea Michele, and has appeared in Glee from its pilot episode, first broadcast on May 19, 2009. Rachel was developed by Glee creators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan. She is the glee club star of the fictional William McKinley High School in Lima, Ohio, where the show is set. Her storylines have seen her suffer peer alienation due to her Broadway ambitions, and develop romantic feelings for Jesse St. James (Jonathan Groff), a member of rival glee club Vocal Adrenaline, but primarily quarterback and glee club co-captain Finn Hudson (Cory Monteith).
Michele bases Rachel on herself when she was younger, and also draws inspiration for the character variously from films including Election, and television portrayals such as the Gossip Girl character Blair Waldorf. Michele has said that she draws on a lot of vulnerability playing Rachel, much like Blair Waldorf. She says: "Rachel will never be popular because her looks aren't considered beautiful, and when I was in high school it was the same for me. I didn't get a nose job, and every single girl around me did. Therefore, I was out." Michele also commented that "Glee is so great because it shows you how that kind of stuff hurts, but it doesn't matter: You can still be who you want to be."
Rachel is strong and driven but somewhat neurotic, explaining that Glee follows Rachel's journey to become more of a team player as well as fulfill her own aspirations. Michele was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 2010, and for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy in 2010 and 2011 for her performance in the role. Rachel has received mostly positive reviews from critics, with Maureen Ryan of The Chicago Tribune praising Michele for making the character "more than a humorless stereotype", but Raymund Flandez of The Wall Street Journal described her as "insufferable". Several songs performed by Michele as Rachel have been released as singles, available for digital download, and also feature on the show's soundtrack albums.
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Rachel is the daughter of an interracial same-sex couple, and is Jewish.[1] Her fathers named her after Rachel Green from Friends.[2] She joins the newly reconstituted glee club hoping that fame will increase her popularity and help her find a boyfriend. She is bullied by members of the school cheerleading and football teams, but is pleased when quarterback Finn Hudson joins the club, developing a crush on him.[3] The two share a kiss in the episode "Showmance", although he tells her to forget that it happened and continues dating his girlfriend, cheerleader Quinn Fabray (Dianna Agron).[4] Rachel quits the glee club when she is not assigned a solo she wanted, and is awarded the lead role in the school musical, Cabaret.[5] However, she later quits the musical and rejoins the glee club when she realizes that she would rather be in a group in which she has friends.[6] She has a brief relationship with another glee club member, Puck (Mark Salling), who is also Jewish, and is a football player who used to bully her, but she breaks up with him due to her continuing feelings for Finn.[7] She later discovers and reveals to Finn that Quinn's pregnancy was not caused by him, but that Puck is the father; furious, Finn attacks Puck, breaks up with Quinn, and drops out of New Directions. He returns the day of the group's first major competition, the Sectionals, to undo sabotage by cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch); the group makes up a completely new set list, which Rachel opens with an impromptu solo of Don't Rain on My Parade, and New Directions wins by unanimous decision.[8]
For a short time Rachel believes that she is dating Finn, but he tells her that he needs to take time out for himself. He changes his mind soon after, but Rachel has already begun dating Jesse St. James (Jonathan Groff), the lead singer of rival glee club Vocal Adrenaline. The rest of the glee club presses Rachel to break off with Jesse, but he transfers to William McKinley and joins New Directions, which defuses their concerns. She tells Jesse that her dream is to find her birth mother, and he offers to help her do so. However, he already knows who it is: Vocal Adrenaline coach Shelby Corcoran (Idina Menzel), who has asked Jesse to befriend Rachel so that she might reconnect with her daughter, who she is not allowed to contact directly until Rachel is eighteen.[9] When Rachel discovers that Shelby is her mother, they both confess to not feeling an immediate attachment and eventually decide not to pursue a relationship.[2] Jesse betrays Rachel and returns to Vocal Adrenaline, leaving her devastated. In the episode "Journey to Regionals", as he and Rachel are about to go onstage at Regionals, Finn tells her that he loves her; although they lose the competition to Vocal Adrenaline, they become a couple.
When the glee club needs to recruit new members to get back up to the minimum twelve required for competitions, Rachel initially encourages transfer student Sunshine Corazon (Charice) to try out, but when she realizes just how good Sunshine is, she sabotages the audition, directing her to an inactive crack house instead of the true location; Sunshine ends up transferring to Carmel High and show choir rivals Vocal Adrenaline. Though this and Finn’s temporary ouster from the football team test their relationship, it remains quite strong through the beginning of season two; the two work together to throw the glee club’s duets competition so newcomer Sam Evans (Chord Overstreet) wins instead. Rachel eventually discovers that Finn slept with cheerleader Santana Lopez (Naya Rivera) the previous year while Rachel was dating Jesse, and lied about it, though Rachel herself had lied and said she had slept with Jesse when she hadn't; hurt, she makes out with Puck to hurt Finn back; this betrayal causes Finn to break up with her.[10] Rachel tries to win him back, but he instead rekindles his feelings for Quinn and starts dating her.[11] Wounded by Quinn telling her that the two of them are back together, Rachel writes an original song for Regionals, “Get It Right”, and when New Directions wins, is named the club’s competition MVP.
Just before junior prom, Jesse returns, having flunked out of UCLA, and Rachel invites him to the prom with her, Sam and Mercedes (Amber Riley). Jesse and Finn are kicked out of the prom when Finn picks a fight with Jesse over his attentions to Rachel on the dance floor, which effectively ends Finn and Quinn’s campaign for prom king and queen. Finn ultimately breaks up with Quinn when he realizes he has a deeper connection with Rachel, despite the fact that she and Jesse seem to be a couple again. At Nationals, as the New Directions are about to go on stage, Finn begs Rachel to get back together with him, but though she professes her love, she refuses, still torn between her love for New York and Broadway and her love for him. At the end of their duet—"Pretending", written by Finn—an enthusiastic audience falls silent when Rachel and Finn share an overlong, unscripted kiss; the glee club comes in twelfth. Back in Ohio, Finn reminds Rachel that she has a year until graduation and any move to New York; he kisses her, and their relationship resumes.[12]
Rachel, along with Kurt, plans to attend a performing arts school in New York City after graduation. School counselor Emma Pillsbury (Jayma Mays) suggest they consider The New York Academy of the Dramatic Arts (NYADA), a highly desirable school. The two attend an Ohio "mixer" for potential applicants, only to discover that their competition is very much like them, and quite talented. Rachel proposes that McKinley do West Side Story as the school musical, since she feels she'd be a shoo-in for the lead role, Maria, and she needs the experience for her NYADA application. However, Mercedes also auditions for Maria, and the directors, unable to decide between the two of them, schedule callbacks where they are to sing the same song. Rachel is appalled to realize that Mercedes has performed the song better than she did, but the directors decide to double-cast the role, giving Rachel and Mercedes each a week of the two-week run. Mercedes refuses to accept the double-casting, since she also believes she did better in the callbacks, and withdraws from the show, leaving Rachel with the role. She loses her virginity to Finn in the episode The First Time after her opening night as Maria. In the episode Mash Off, Rachel withdraws from her school president campaign and encourages everyone to vote for Kurt so he could get into NYADA. The next episode (I Kissed a Girl) sees Rachel getting suspended from school for a week due to her stuffing the ballot box in Kurt's favor, and Rachel is penalized further when it is revealed that she cannot compete in Sectionals; a major blow to New Directions. However, New Directions still win Sectionals.
Rachel is regularly portrayed by Lea Michele, and as a child has been played by Lauren Boles.[13] In casting Glee, series creator Ryan Murphy sought out actors who could identify with the rush of starring in theatrical roles. Instead of using traditional network casting calls, he spent three months on Broadway, where he found Lea Michele, who starred in Spring Awakening.[14] The role of Rachel was written specifically for Michele.[15] In an interview with The Washington Post, Michele commented on her casting, saying: "I was kind of just thrown into this—this is one of the first television jobs I've ever had. Of course being able to sing helps bring a sense of comfort. The character I'm playing is really outgoing—she performs in her everyday life as though she's performing in front of a huge audience."[16]
In December 2010, Ryan Murphy announced that the cast of Glee would be replaced at the end of the third season to coincide with their graduation.[17] Murphy said: "Every year we're going to populate a new group. There's nothing more depressing than a high schooler with a bald spot." He also revealed that some of the original cast will leave as early as 2012: "I think you have to be true to the fact that here is a group of people who come and go in these teachers' lives."[17] Murphy said in July 2011 that Michele would be one of the actors leaving at the end of the third season,[18] and Michele commented on the matter, saying: "We always knew we'd graduate in real time. It's all part of the plan and it's all good! It's going to make Season 3 amazing! This is just the beginning!"[19] However, Falchuk later stated that while Michele, along with Chris Colfer and Cory Monteith, will graduate at the end of the third season, "because they’re graduating doesn’t mean they’re leaving the show." Falchuk insisted "it was never our plan or our intention to let them go…. They are not done with the show after this season."[20]
Sandra Gonzalez of Entertainment Weekly commented on the original news that several characters would be leaving the cast when they graduate, saying: "Indeed, a rolling cast list has done some shows good in the past. I’ll admit that it took me some time to warm up to the “new kids” on Friday Night Lights, which ends its run tomorrow on NBC, but it was a well-done transition. What I loved most was that the new blood didn’t try to be the new versions of the old characters. They were new characters with completely different outlooks and goals. Glee could learn a lot from what Friday Night Lights accomplished: a seamless, realistic transition. The problem? “Seamless” and “realistic” have never been Glee‘s strong points, which is not to say they couldn’t be. But the question is: Is Glee looking to be the less-attractive comedy cousin of Friday Night Lights… or Saved By the Bell: The New Class?"[21]
She took the role because of Rachel's characterization, explaining: "Not only is she a singer, but she has so much heart – I think it's what we need on TV. A show that is filled with heart and love that is funny. It sends an amazing message to kids about the arts and being who you are."[22] Michele described the first thirteen episodes of the series as "Rachel's journey of finding herself within the Glee club",[23] explaining that "She's learning how to be a team player and work within this group. She's a very strong, driven girl, who's sometimes a little misunderstood."[23]
Glee's costume designed Lou Eyrich described Rachel's costuming in an interview with Entertainment Weekly saying: "Originally, the inspiration for her look was Tracy Flick from "Election" — very buttoned-down, preppy, obnoxious, squeaky clean, nerdy. But she’s got at least 12 costume changes each episode. That same look all the time just gets boring for the screen and for the actress to wear, so we spread it out a lot. We try to have her buttoned-up or wearing a nerdy sweater over a cute dress, like she doesn’t quite get it right. Or she takes that sweater and tucks it into the skirt and pairs it with knee highs and flats. She makes it her way, which is more quirky. The popular girls find a way to make it look cool, but Rachel makes it look nerdy. But it’s not old-school nerdy with thick glasses and pocket protectors. She thinks she’s taking a trend and making it cool, but she wears it wrong.[24]
Michele bases Rachel on herself when she was younger, and also draws inspiration from the film Election, and the Gossip Girl character Blair Waldorf. She has explained: "[Blair] is shady, but you still love her. She's still vulnerable. That's what I try to do with Rachel. Rachel will never be popular because her looks aren't considered beautiful, and when I was in high school it was the same for me. I didn't get a nose job, and every single girl around me did. Therefore, I was out. I was not cool. What's so great about Glee is that it shows you how that kind of stuff hurts, but it doesn't matter: You can still be who you want to be. And in four years, high school will be over and all of that crap won't matter anyway."[25]
Several songs performed by Michele as Rachel have been released as singles, available for digital download, also featuring on the soundtracks Glee: The Music, Volume 1 and Glee: The Music, Volume 2.[26][27] Rachel has received positive reviews from critics. The role saw Michele nominated for the Emmy for Best Leading Actress in a Comedy Series at the 2010 Primetime Emmy Award, which were hosted on August 29; and for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy at the 2010 Golden Globe Awards.[28][29] Robert A. George of the New York Post has deemed Rachel: "the only female [in Glee] who doesn’t come across as manipulative or vapidly helpless",[30] while the Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan has opined: "Lea Michele not only has an amazing voice but manages to make her character, spoiled diva Rachel Berry, more than a humorless stereotype."[31] The Los Angeles Times's Denise Martin commented on the episode "The Rhodes Not Taken": "if there's any justice in the world, Lea Michele will win a Golden Globe and an Emmy for playing Rachel".[32]
Following the episode "Hairography" in which Rachel is badly made-over by Kurt, Mike Hale of the New York Times noted a popular theme amongst critics for negatively highlighting the way Glee treats its female characters. He wrote that while he understood this stance, he generally disagreed with it as the show treats male characters equally poorly, but opined: "it was a bit much when Finn looked at Rachel in her catsuit and frizzy hair and said she looked like a 'sad clown hooker.' Come on. She looked fantastic."[33] Zap2it's Korbi Ghosh has deemed Rachel's high point on the show romancing of Finn and Puck, commenting: "when we saw Rachel fall for them, she was actually relatable. Likable even. The type-A, uber-talented, self-involved know-it-all who's usually alienating her classmates let her guard down to expose a vulnerable side. And, as a bonus, we got some super solid musical performances from those awkward courtships."[34]
Conversely, Ghosh assessed her low point as being her romancing of Will, writing: "Sure, Schue's got it going on, what with the rapping, the break dancing, the boy band'ing and the lindy hopping too. But Rachel's eye-on-the-prize, I'll-get-what-I-want attitude coupled with her inappropriate crush on the teacher just made her creepier than usual. Infiltrating his home, cooking and cleaning for him right under his crazy wife's nose. Come on, Berry, you're better than that..."[34] Raymund Flandez for The Wall Street Journal commented on the episode "Preggers": "Rachel has become insufferable. The disagreements with Mr. Schue about her own development as a bonafide triple-threat have branded her as an overbearing prima donna to the rest of Glee."[35] Eric Goldman for IGN agreed: "It's hard not to be annoyed by Rachel".[36] James Poniewozik of Time has suggested that Rachel's negative character traits may actually be an asset, commenting on her performance of "Don't Rain on My Parade" in the episode "Sectionals": "The number reminded me how much I like what the show's done with Rachel: she's a lead character, yet the show allows her to be annoying—but at the same time, her dedication makes her likeable. And as we see here, as much of a pill as she can be, her ability to whip out a performance she's been working on since age four is an asset."[37]
Michele has won a number of awards for her portrayal of Rachel. At the 2009 Satellite Awards, she won the award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Musical or Comedy Television Series.[38] Michele was part of the Glee cast ensemble given the Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series award at the 16th Screen Actors Guild Awards.[39] In 2010, Michele won the NewNowNext Awards for Brink of Fame: Actor.[40] The role has also garnered Michele numerous award nominations. In 2009, she was nominated for a Teen Choice Award in the category "Choice TV Breakout Star".[41] That same year, Michele was nominated for a Golden Globe in the category Best Actress- Television Series Musical or Comedy,[42] and an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.[43] She received another Teen Choice Award nomination in 2010 for "Choice TV Actress: Comedy".[41] Michele was included in Time magazine's 2010 list of the 100 Most Influential People In the World.[44] Her cover of The All-American Rejects' "Gives You Hell" reached the top 40 on the US Billboard 200.[45] Michele is featured as lead singer in 14 of the top 20 selling Glee Cast songs as of 2010.[46]
Michele was nominated for two Grammy Awards in 2011. The first for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals ("Don't Stop Believin'"), the second for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television, or Other Visual Media (Glee: The Music, Volume 1).[47] Michele said of the first Grammy nomination: "I like that it's for 'Don't Stop Believin'', which is for the whole cast, so that we all get to go. That's just awesome."[47] She was nominated again for "Best Actress- Television Series Musical or Comedy" at the 2011 Golden Globe Awards.[48] The cast of Glee was also nominated for the Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series award at the 2011 Screen Actors Guild Awards.[49]
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