Two new videos of Lea being interviewed on the Emmy red carpet have also been added to the video archive. A huge thanks to Andrea for those!

Glee’s Lea Michele might be the tiniest person in Hollywood (she’s 5’2”!), but make no mistake, she will take over the world, one show tune—and life goal—at a time.

On a sweltering late-summer morning, with her hit show on hiatus before its second season, actress Lea Michele walks into Mud, a cool New York City coffee shop. She’s wearing a bright orange slipdress and sandals. With her long brown hair piled on her head, she could be just another East Village hipster chick. But how many hipsters have been nominated for an Emmy? And how many of them carry a beautiful, loud-enough-to-break-glass voice in such an itty-bitty package?

Born in the Bronx and raised in New Jersey, Lea Michele Sarfati, 24, made it to Broadway in Les Miserables at age eight. By 21, she’d starred in the Tony-winning Spring Awakening. And then it was off to TV (musical TV) as Rachel Berry, the annoyingly willful but lovable teen on Glee, a show everyone is obsessed with—even coffee shop dudes, who make no effort to conceal their delight at the sight of Michele.

Believe me when I say she’s a lot to take in. A self-confessed caffeine addict, she has boundless energy. Weirdly, she’s not particularly theatrical. The intensity comes from the utter conviction in everything she says. Keep reading for big confidence lessons from the actress—she’s full of ‘em.

GLAMOUR: It’s so hot. Would you like an iced coffee?

LEA MICHELE: Iced coffee doesn’t do the trick.

GLAMOUR: How much coffee do you drink?

LEA MICHELE: As long as it’s in my hands, my addiction is satisfied. When we’re filming, I could go through four cups. Now that we’re [on break], I’m ridding myself of all my vices, and coffee’s my number-one.

GLAMOUR: You’re not a party girl, are you?

LEA MICHELE: I never was. Even in high school, that wasn’t my scene. If you want to come over to my house and stay up all night, I think that is more fun.

GLAMOUR: What would we do?

LEA MICHELE: I could cook for you. Homemade baked ziti.

GLAMOUR: I love baked ziti!

LEA MICHELE: I make a vegan baked ziti. And even though that doesn’t sound enjoyable, it really is. I cooked last night, and then I watched all of my Bravo shows: Bethenny Getting Married?, Top Chef and The Real Housewives of New Jersey.

GLAMOUR: Super fun. So Lea, when did you first know that you could sing?

LEA MICHELE: I didn’t know I could sing until I auditioned for Les Miserables. My friend was auditioning, and I wanted to audition too. My mother was like, “You can’t sing.” I’d never tried!

GLAMOUR: How old were you?

LEA MICHELE: Eight years old. After the [Les Mis] audition, I said, “Mom, I think they really like me.” She said if we ever hear from them again, it will be a miracle. I was a ballsy little kid. I felt no fear at all.

GLAMOUR: You’re so petite, and your voice is so gigantic. I want to know what that feels like.

LEA MICHELE: It feels like you’re jumping out of a plane. Terrifying but incredibly invigorating at the exact same time.

GLAMOUR: I take it your parents didn’t think they would be raising a star. How did they keep you grounded?

LEA MICHELE: My mother’s side is Italian; my father’s side is Jewish. We’re the kind of family where every Sunday night we have dinner with all 19 of my cousins. And my parents would say to me, “If you don’t want to [perform] anymore, you don’t have to.” They totally let me figure it out for myself.

GLAMOUR: How do your parents feel about your success?

LEA MICHELE: I think they are incredibly proud and still in shock.

GLAMOUR: Still?

LEA MICHELE: Because it’s everything that we kind of dreamed of. When I was a little kid, my mother and I used to watch the Golden Globes and I would dress up and she would get sparkling apple cider and we would make a tray of hors d’oeuvres and watch it together. And I would get up and make a pretend speech.

GLAMOUR: OK, on to Glee gossip. Is Cory Monteith [Finn] as delicious as he seems?

LEA MICHELE: Cory is such a goofball. I swear to God, that kid can make me laugh.

GLAMOUR: You don’t have a crush on him?

LEA MICHELE: No, I don’t have a crush on Cory! Rachel has a massive crush on him. He’s like my brother.

GLAMOUR: What’s the show gossip? Because you could all hate each other, for all we know. Somebody must hate somebody.

LEA MICHELE: They are my family, honestly. I don’t have family in L.A. If I didn’t have them…I love my cast.

GLAMOUR: Which castmate was the biggest surprise to you?

LEA MICHELE: Amber Riley. We’re both big personalities, and you definitely would think we’d bump heads. But she has taught me more about myself than anyone. She inspires me, she protects me, she makes me laugh, she tells me not to take myself so seriously. She’s my Mama Amber.

GLAMOUR: What’s going to happen to Rachel next season?

LEA MICHELE: I think we’re going to see [what she’s like] with a boyfriend. She’s kind of inexperienced still, and I would like to see them together for a bit as a couple. I want to meet her dad—I really do. I think that they’re saving that, though.

GLAMOUR: Have you ever had a conversation with a young girl about the show that touched you?

LEA MICHELE: A mom came up to me and told me her daughter had been asked by some little girls at school, “Are your mommies lesbians?” And the little girl was like, “Yeah.” And the little girl went home and told her mom, who said, “How did you get the confidence to [say] that?” And the little girl responded, “Mom, I’m like Rachel Berry!” That was really, really cool.

GLAMOUR: Amazing. What’s your life like when you’re not working? How do you stay fit?

LEA MICHELE: I love being healthy. I get a lot of sleep. I’m a girl who eats. And I feel beautiful no matter how I look. I have my family to thank for that. I’ll have a big Italian dinner, and I don’t give a crap because it makes me happy.

GLAMOUR: Your boyfriend [Theo Stockman] is also a performer on Broadway. So you’re on different coasts?

LEA MICHELE: Yes. I’m a relationship girl. I would rather be long-distance with him than not have a relationship at all.

GLAMOUR: What do you love about him?

LEA MICHELE: He lets me be who I am.

GLAMOUR: I would hope so! What is your ideal romantic evening with him?

LEA MICHELE: Scary movie, pizza, being at home, maybe having friends over and a great bottle of wine. I like it when a movie scares the s—t out of me. That, for me, is just the best.