Lea Michele landed her first Broadway role because her friend's dad suffered a heart attack

She told Elle magazine: "There was an open call for the Broadway show Les [Misérables] and my friend wanted to audition.

"The night before, her father had a heart attack and her mother called my mom and said, 'Please, you have to take her on the audition.' "

She decided she wanted to "try out too", and her parents let her go despite never hearing her sing.

The Glee star recalled: "I said, 'Well, I'm going to try out too. If we're taking her, I'm going to go too.'

"My parents said, 'Well, you can't sing.' But they didn't know.' I hadn't ever sung before.

"I practiced in my room a song. I sang Angel of Music from Phantom of the Opera."

In a whirlwind moment, the casting directors were impressed, and just two weeks later she made her Broadway debut.

She said: "When we left, they said to my mom, 'Who are you? Does she have an agent?' I had no headshot or anything.

"And when we left, I said to my mom, 'I think I'm going to get this.' And she said, 'Things like this don't happen to people like us.'

"Two weeks later, I was performing on Broadway."

Lea and her friend are still close, and her pal is "good" 30 years after the audition.

Les Miserables marked the Funny Girl star's first appearance on Broadway, and she's been cast in her sixth with Chess, which will be performed at the same theatre as that original run.

She said: "I'm so grateful. I can't imagine being anywhere else in my life. This is where I feel like I am meant to be."