(Cover) - EN Showbiz - Jayma Mays wishes shed had the opportunity to be a Glee club weirdo at school.

The actress plays germaphobe teacher Emma Pillsbury in American TV show Glee, which is about a group of misfits who bond over their shared love of singing. Jayma thinks the programme sends out an important message about how vital it is to pursue your true interests when youre growing up, and wishes she had done so.

I grew up in the Appalachian Mountains, in a mining town where everyone was covered in soot. My parents ran a coal-testing laboratory, a real Jekyll and Hyde lab, things would bubble and turn different colours. I would go there after school, she explained. I would have loved to be a Glee club weirdo but there wasnt really any music or acting, so I became a med student.

Jayma eventually realised being a doctor wasnt for her, and decided to try her hand at acting. It had always been her passion, and she was thrilled when she landed a key role in the television show.

She doesnt have to sing or dance that much in Glee, unlike many of the other characters. Shes glad about that as just having to show off her vocal talents occasionally leaves Jayma petrified.

I will always remember the first time I had to sing on Glee, she told Grazia. I spent all day eating toast and drinking water because my stomach was so upset. I grew up singing a little but I was never trained so it just scared the bejeezus out of me. Terrified. (C) Cover Media