Lea Michele explains why she wears wig for Chess musical

Lea Michele has explained why she wears a wig that resembles her own hair for the Broadway musical Chess.

The Glee actress portrays Florence Vassy in the latest revival of the stage show opposite Aaron Tveit and Nicholas Christopher.

During a TikTok video posted this week, Lea noted that she wears a wig for the part because she would need to blow-dry and flat-iron her naturally "really, really" curly hair every single day otherwise.

"I mean, how bad would that be for my hair?" she asked. "Also, just because we wanted something different for act two, so by using a wig, not only would it protect my hair from damage and putting heat on it every night, we could then do something different in act two and in act two, she has shorter hair. Mentally now, she's lighter."

Lea went on to note that the wig enhances her performance.

"That's the story of the wig. I love her," the 39-year-old raved. "She's fierce. I would wear her every day."

And in a follow-up clip, the former Funny Girl star maintained that she loves her "cute" and "wild" curls.

"I would wear my hair like that all the time. Neither of my children have curly hair, which is so crazy," she added.

Lea shares a son Ever, five, and a 18-month-old daughter, Emery, with her husband, Zandy Reich.

Chess is set to run at the Imperial Theatre in New York City until 21 June.