After a summer marred by controversy and cast changes, it would appear as though all is quiet on the GLEE front. And while the cone of silence that seems to have ensconced the Paramount Studios Lot as hundreds of hard working and talented cast and crew members busy themselves with shooting the show’s much-anticipated third season may be music to the publicity department at Fox’s ears, it’s not to us. Which is why we thought now might be as good a time as any to offer up a sneak peek at GLEE Season 3. Oh, and not just any sneak peek, but rather a Lea Michele-infused one direct from Fox’s recent All-Star Summer TCA Party in Los Angeles. See for yourself, after the jump.

Before we get into the new season, we’d be remiss if we didn’t ask you about the recent controversy surrounding the reported spin-off from earlier in the summer.
Lea Michele: You know what’s so funny is that I feel like so many people are looking so far ahead, and honestly for me, I know what is coming up for Rachel this season and I’m so excited for that so I try not to get too far ahead of myself and I’m just focused on what I have to do right now.

What specifically are you excited about as we look towards GLEE’s third season?
I know that I have some really great story lines with Chris Colfer and Darren Criss. I know that I’m going to be in the high school musical which I can’t say but it’s one of my dream roles — not Fanny Brice [of FUNNY GIRL fame]. So I know that I’m doing that and I know that they’re going back to a lot of classic songs. From the first script it was not a lot of top 10 songs but older songs which I love and am so excited to sing and lots of broadway. So I’m super excited about that.

What’s Rachel’s relationship status in terms of Finn and is there any fallout from last May’s surprising kiss?
He’s there, handsome as ever [Laughs], but I think we’re still paying for it [the kiss] a little bit. It seems like the two of us are still together in the first episode, but you never know with Finn and Rachel what could possibly happen.

Are you looking forward to Rachel’s graduation this season?
Well, unless I flunk, which I can work out you know. I can fail my classes, so I’ll see how I feel, and then decide! Obviously I can’t be on the show forever, but I think I look fairly young… right… I think so?!

Do you think this will be the year that we finally get to meet Rachel’s two Dads?
You know what, what the heck? Like really, I really hope so! For me, my dream of meeting Rachel’s dads would just be even if she was performing on stage, taking a bow, and then she’d just waves and there they were her dads in the audience, Elton John… and… one of them is African American so I’ve always had trouble about thinking who that would be. But it would be a great way to just easily slip it in, but he won’t tell me when Ryan [Murphy].

One of the things Ryan Murphy has gone on record about is the notion that this third season will see a refocusing on the show’s core characters. Do you welcome that versus last season’s penchant for big name guest stars and theme episodes?
Here’s the thing, I love focusing on the main characters, but I still love our guest stars. It’s a great opportunity for people who may not be singers to get to come on and sing and have fun and for that I really hope that they continue to bring people on. As for the theme episodes, they are incredibly hard so if we don’t do too many of those I think I would be okay.

Between the show, the tour and now the 3-D movie do you ever worry that GLEE has hit its peak?
I feel like every time we feel that it’s the peek, then next month we’re meeting President Obama. So every time I’ve kind of felt that “Oh my God it can’t get any better than this…” it does.

GLEE returns with brand new episodes this Tuesday September 20th on Fox at 8PM (Global TV in Canada). Catch up on past episodes you may have missed for free online at clicktowatch.tv

With FOX getting set to unveil GLEE following the penultimate episode of AMERICAN IDOL next Tuesday, actress Lea Michele is on the brink of becoming Hollywood’s next big thing … trust us. With that in mind, we’d like to take this opportunity to share five things you probably don’t know about the girl everyone’s going to be talking about come Wednesday morning.

1) The beauty once was told she wasn’t pretty enough for TV.
Yes, if you can believe it, some foolish casting director once dubbed Michele “too ethnic looking and not pretty enough for television” when asked to evaluate her chances of making it in Hollywood. Fortunately, she didn’t listen… and GLEE’s casting director has much better vision! “I know I’m a theater girl but I fell in love with the script so much, fought for it and now here I am!” she told us during a recent visit to the GLEE set. “It’s kind of ridiculous. I still have moments at least twice a day when I’m like, ‘This is amazing, I can’t believe this. I’m so happy!’”

2) Her new alter ego was inspired by another fictional high schooler.
If Rachel Berry — Michele’s overachieving, myspace-addicted, fame-obsessed character on GLEE reminds you of Election’s Tracy Flick — played on the big screen by Reese Witherspon — that’s not exactly accidental: Witherspoon’s character served as a major inspiration for Michele. “Oh my God!” exclaims Michele. “I’m a big Reese Witherspoon fan! She’s amazing! I even just watched FOUR CHRISTMAS the other day.” And anyone who’s seen that film will attest to just how big a fan Michele must be!

3) She and Rachel don’t have a whole lot in common.
While Rachel’s guiding philosophy is that “being anonymous is worse than being poor, fame is the most important thing in our culture now,” that’s not an opinion her portrayer would agree with. In fact, while Michele did several Broadway plays while still in high school, it wasn’t something she bragged about to her classmates. In fact, she learned the hard way that sometimes, it’s better to sit back and let others shine! “I did [our high school play] one year, and everyone was so mad at me that I got the lead, so I promised I’d never do that again!” Instead, she started exploring other extra-curricular activities. “I choose the debate team and volleyball team. I didn’t fit into one place and really had an awsome high school experience.”

4) She knew how talented Adam Lambert was way before you did.
The rest of us only recently fell in love with the AMERICAN IDOL front-runner, but Michele’s been a fan for quite some time. “I love Adam! I know him from when he was in [the Broadway play] Wicked, and I think he’s fantastic. I would definitely put my money on Adam!” she declares. 

5) She works hard for the money.
Anybody who thinks acting is all glitz and glamour never had a slushie thrown into their face… repeatedly. But that’s exactly what Michele had to endure in order to capture a short-but-pivotal scene from the pilot that’s also featured in GLEE’s ads. “You have no idea…. we did it in one take, but imagine a mass of ice, and sticky and cold and hold it for 10 seconds,” she shares with a shiver. “I had the worst brain freeze!” And proving that sometimes, you have to suffer for your art, Rachel later finds herself with yet another face full of slushie in a later episode! “When we did it again it’s two slushies! Which of course we didn’t get it in one take. So basically, it’s six slushies! You do it once… nope didn’t get it. Wash your hair, blow dry, wash your face, your body, everything, come back and do it again. Didn’t get it, do it again… ”