Actress Lea Michele talks to Dr. Oz about how she conquered her acne and insecurities. Learn her secrets to health and happiness!
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00:00 (audience applauding)
00:00 My guest today knows a lot about finding oneself
00:03 in the middle of life's most enthralling highs
00:06 and emotional lows.
00:07 At just 27, she succeeded in ways that defy her age.
00:11 At the core of how she's navigated life's obstacles
00:14 are the lessons she's learned about bouncing back,
00:16 both physically and emotionally.
00:18 Now she's putting it all down in her first book,
00:20 "Brunette Ambition."
00:22 Lea Michele, come on out.
00:24 (audience applauding)
00:27 (upbeat music)
00:29 Hello.
00:35 How are you?
00:36 How are you?
00:37 Good, thank you.
00:38 You look wonderful.
00:39 Thank you so much, thanks.
00:40 Hello.
00:42 Thanks for being here.
00:43 Is this me?
00:44 You pick one, you should get one.
00:46 (laughing)
00:47 Once in a while people will sit here, but it's up to you.
00:49 Okay.
00:50 You have a good side and a bad side?
00:51 You, they both look good to me.
00:53 I don't know, I feel, wait.
00:54 Yeah, this is good, I think.
00:56 (laughing)
00:57 So I gotta say, I follow your success,
00:59 and all the wonderful things you've been able to do,
01:01 but with that comes all the media scrutiny.
01:03 How do you stay grounded?
01:04 How do you find perspective?
01:06 A good dinner with my mom and dad,
01:08 and my big Italian family,
01:10 no matter what's going on in the world,
01:12 or in this business, that is just my,
01:16 that is my home, that's my heart.
01:18 You seem very confident.
01:19 Have you always been that way, driven and achieving?
01:22 You know, I have a wonderful, wonderful, you know,
01:25 family that really has always made me feel so comfortable
01:28 in my own skin, and in my body,
01:30 and with who I am, and how I am,
01:32 and you know, they really instilled great confidence in me,
01:35 and I'm so thankful for that,
01:36 because it does allow me in this world, in life,
01:40 and also in this business, to go out feeling, you know,
01:43 so strong, and then able to achieve anything.
01:46 You mentioned your skin, comfortable in your own skin.
01:49 This is a fantastic book, by the way.
01:50 Thank you so much, I'm so proud of it.
01:52 You should be.
01:53 (audience applauding)
01:55 It's beautifully laid out, you know,
01:57 you've done smart things to help tell the story
01:59 of how you've gotten where you are.
02:01 And I love the soulful elements of it.
02:03 I'm just gonna read one little passage that caught me.
02:05 I didn't expect this, but you brought up the skin issue,
02:08 so I'm gonna read this.
02:09 You know those kids who become nearly suicidal
02:11 about their acne.
02:12 Yeah.
02:13 I've walked that fine line.
02:14 Yeah, it was pretty, it was really bad.
02:16 I actually went on Accutane twice,
02:19 and it's a very intense, you know, medicine for your skin,
02:22 causes, as you know, it causes a lot of emotional,
02:26 but also really changes your appearance
02:28 and the process of it making you, you know,
02:31 eventually getting better.
02:33 And it was so hard.
02:35 And being a performer my whole life, you know,
02:38 so much of my appearance is a part of my business.
02:41 And I'm always such an outgoing person.
02:44 I feel so, you know, confident and comfortable.
02:46 And then when this happened to me, you know,
02:48 around my teens, it was really hard.
02:52 It was really hard.
02:53 And, you know, thankfully now that I'm older,
02:56 you know, it's cleared up.
02:58 And, but I always, it's always something that I have to
03:00 keep in mind to take care of and, you know,
03:04 eat well, drink lots of water, because, you know,
03:07 I owe it to my mom and dad for passing
03:09 that acne gene along to me.
03:11 So I always have to, you know, keep it in mind.
03:13 So with the perspective you now have,
03:15 what message would you give to all the young women out there
03:17 who are still struggling with acne,
03:18 trying to hide it and cope with it?
03:20 It's really rough.
03:21 It's really rough.
03:23 And especially with high schools being so brutal these days
03:26 and everyone is basing so much on your appearance.
03:29 You know, we have all these Twitters and Instagram
03:32 and that's, you know, everyone is so fixated
03:34 on how you look.
03:36 For me, you know, it was very rough.
03:38 I did everything I could to get it better,
03:40 taking very good care of myself.
03:43 Would you hide it?
03:44 How would you get, how would you go out?
03:45 When the big date was over?
03:46 I'll tell you, I at one point took a black eye line pencil
03:50 and tried to make them look like birthmarks.
03:53 And one of my girlfriends came up to me one day
03:55 and she was like, "What happened to you?"
03:57 I was like, "What do you mean?
03:58 "They're beauty marks."
04:00 So don't do that.
04:01 Speaking of skin, I just noticed this.
04:03 Why do you have a tattoo here?
04:05 I have a couple tattoos, Dr. Oz.
04:07 (laughing)
04:08 Or something that I see on you.
04:10 Yeah, they're all very small.
04:11 You know, it is sort of like,
04:12 it is a part of my culture a little bit.
04:14 Everyone in my family has tattoos
04:17 and they're all very small and respectful.
04:20 What's the significance of this one though?
04:22 This says Believe and I got it years back
04:24 when I was in a Broadway show called Spring Awakening.
04:27 So it was one of the songs in the show
04:29 and now it feels like years ago.
04:31 And I look back at it and I'm like,
04:32 "Whoa, that was a major time of my life."
04:36 I've noticed how many young people get tattoos right now.
04:39 It's the big fight I have with my daughters all the time,
04:40 to make sure they don't get tattoos.
04:42 Well, you know what?
04:43 Do what I did with my parents, get matching tattoos.
04:45 Oh, matching tattoos.
04:46 (laughing)
04:48 That's how I convinced my mom.
04:49 I was like, "Let's get a mother-daughter tattoo."
04:52 (laughing)
04:54 'Cause we love each other so much.
04:57 Now she has a butterfly on her back.
04:59 And-
05:00 Oh, I see what it is.
05:01 Is that an S?
05:01 This is a, these are musical notes.
05:03 Musical notes.
05:04 Yes.
05:04 So your body is literally singing.
05:06 Yes, with butterflies.
05:07 (laughing)
05:08 So you've gone through a wonderful growth, you know, spurt,
05:13 career-wise, emotionally, I'm sure.
05:15 What are you learning about yourself?
05:17 I'm learning how this strengthened me
05:20 that I never really knew I had.
05:23 I learned also, you know, that a lot of work is really good.
05:27 I'm definitely a workaholic.
05:29 I could fill my schedule.
05:31 I have a day planner that I write in with a pencil,
05:34 and I could literally sit there all day and pack my days,
05:36 but it's actually not that good to do,
05:38 'cause you can burn yourself out.
05:40 So finding a really good balance of work and fun
05:43 and family is the best.
05:46 Thank you for watching.
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