Lea Michele changed last name because of bullies

Lea Michele may have battled slushee being thrown in her face, terrifying Cheerios and mean football players on Glee as Rachel Berry, but now the songbird’s talking about her own personal experience with bullying, and this time it doesn’t involve her nose.

Us Weekly reported on Wednesday the actress went on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno to talk about her name change.

Lea told the late night host that when she was younger, kids would make fun her for her last name.

"Sarfati. That's my real last name. I don't use it a lot because I got Lea So-fatty, Lea So-farty at school," she said.

“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.'"

According to CNN, the 25-year-old also said her name is “Sephardic, which is Spanish/Jew” and she joked that her family was “kicked out” of Spain, to which Leno responded, “Now why did you get kicked out? Was the skirt too short?”

The New Year’s Eve actress is one of several celebrities who has talked about their bouts with bullies. Demi Lovato, Jessica Simpson, and Eva Longoria are a few of the others who have shared their experience with bullying.