Ashton Kutcher might have flirted heavily with his co-star Lea Michele at the premiere of “New Year’s Eve.” But when Michele found out she would be acting opposite Kutcher, she “freaked out” and felt he was “out of my league.”
ASHTON KUTCHER PAWS LEA MICHELE
The “Glee” actress told New York magazine that director Garry Marshall asked her which actor she wanted to co-star in her vignette about a pair of strangers who get stuck in an elevator on New Year’s Eve.
“I didn’t mention Ashton’s name just because, I gotta say, I kinda felt like he was a little out of my league,” Michele said. “You know, this guy’s like, the hottest guy, and then when they called and said that Ashton was doing it, I was really freaked out. I thought I should have picked someone else and said, ‘You have to use this person!’ so I wouldn’t have been nervous. But I’m so glad, because he challenged me, and it was a really great pairing, I think.”
Kutcher has echoed the sentiment that he enjoyed working with Michele. “I think what makes her great for this particular role is she has this passionate aspiration and I think that she’s able to express that really cleanly,” he said.
While promoting “New Year’s Eve,” Michele also addressed the issue of her dropped last name. She tells “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” that she started going by her first and middle name because she was teased when she was younger.
“Sarfati. That’s my real last name,” Michele revealed. “I don’t use it a lot because I got Lea So-fatty, Lea So-farty at school. So when I was little and I went on my first audition they were like, ‘And may we have your name,’ and I was like ‘Lea Michele.’ And I’ve been Lea Michele ever since.”