We came this close to getting a Patti LuPone Glee episode

(Image credit: Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)

Brace yourself, Gleeks — this one's gonna hurt. In an interview with The New Yorker published Friday, Broadway legend Patti LuPone revealed that there was nearly an entire Glee episode themed around her, but she turned it down.

I got a telephone call from my agents saying that Ryan Murphy wanted to do an episode of Glee around me. It would have been "Patti LuPone on a plane." I have no idea what the plot was. I immediately said no: "No, no, no, no! I cannot afford to be Patti LuPone'd out of the business." I'm not Cher. I'm not Britney Spears. I'm not Madonna. I'm still a working actor. And if I do this, I will be "Patti LuPone" on TV for a long time, and I won't get work. They were shocked that I said no. I told Ryan, "I'll be in if they want me to be me. . . . but you can't do an entire episode around me." [The New Yorker]

LuPone ultimately agreed to guest star in an episode set in the Broadway restaurant Sardi's instead, but oh, think of what could have been! Read LuPone's full interview at The New Yorker.

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.