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" NeNe Leakes is certainly a force to be reckoned with. We all grew to know and love her fiery personality on The Real Housewives of Atlanta, but make no mistake - she had no plans on stopping there. Going on to participate in The Celebrity Apprentice and then pursuing acting roles on Glee and NBC&amp;#039;s The New Normal, there&amp;#039;s seemingly nothing she can&amp;#039;t do.  Digital Spy caught up with NeNe to find out a bit more about her successful career and how she juggles it all.   What drew you to the role of Rocky on The New Normal? &amp;quot;Well, nothing actually drew me to the role. Ryan Murphy told me I had to do it, so I just said yes! Because he had given me the character Roz Washington on Glee, so I feel like I am in debt with Ryan and I feel loyal to him, so whatever it is he tells me to do, that&amp;#039;s what I do, and if he wants me to play whatever character, I just play the character. He is super smart and he has a great eye for talent, so I respect that and I do whatever he says.&amp;quot; Everyone was probably a bit surprised - but really excited - to see you cast as Coach Roz on Glee. What was that experience like? &amp;quot;Being on Glee was amazing. I remember my first day on set, my first day I arrived to the set I was in my trailer and all of the actors came and banged on my door - Lea Michele, Chris Colfer, Amber Riley, Naya Rivera. They all welcomed me with open arms, so it was a great experience. It felt like family, and I miss them a lot over there.&amp;quot; Would you go back? &amp;quot;I absolutely would love to go back over to Glee. We shoot on the same lot, Paramount, and I pass them every day so I can just walk over there. I would love to be back, yes.&amp;quot; We all know you first from your reality TV experiences, from Real Housewives to Celebrity Apprentice. Did you struggle to make the transition from reality star to bona fide actress? &amp;quot;I didn&amp;#039;t struggle at all - it just really came naturally for me. I really didn&amp;#039;t go out looking for it; it&amp;#039;s just happened for me. I always say, &amp;#039;What&amp;#039;s for me is for me&amp;#039;. I don&amp;#039;t really push it and think like that.  &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;ve always liked acting - I did it years ago, this isn&amp;#039;t my first time doing it. My first film was with Cuba Gooding Jr, The Fighting Temptations, and I had a little part here and there on little shows as guest stars. And I&amp;#039;ve taken acting classes. So it&amp;#039;s not my first time acting. I love becoming a character outside of who I am. Even when I was a little girl, I loved make believe, so I like it.&amp;quot; Having so many endeavours going on simultaneously - from acting to writing, philanthropy and your restaurant investments, how do you prioritise everything, especially being a mom of two young sons?  &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s not easy! We have help. I have my sons&amp;#039; father, I have a nanny, I have flight tickets and car service - it&amp;#039;s not easy - and tutors and all kinds of things. My son flies to Los Angeles and he&amp;#039;s homeschooled. It&amp;#039;s not easy. It&amp;#039;s a full schedule for me to work and for my kid to go to school, so it&amp;#039;s a lot.&amp;quot; You released your first book last year in which you detailed your experiences with domestic violence. Why was it so important for you to share those stories publicly? &amp;quot;I never knew how much I would like being an author. I love being an author. I love writing down the things that happened in my life and putting it on pages. I&amp;#039;m just a real person and I tell it like it is. I don&amp;#039;t have a lot of secrets, which has been a fault of mine. I just wanted to share my story in hopes that it would help someone else.&amp;quot; The New Normal airs on NBC on Tuesdays at 9.30/8.30c. E4 will air the series in the UK. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/ustv/interviews/a429661/nene-leakes-talks-the-new-normal-motherhood-glee-return-more/>