The character is portrayed by actress Ashley Fink, and first appeared in the season one episode "Wheels", first broadcast on November 11, 2009.

She is a member of New Directions, the glee club at the fictional William McKinley High School in Lima, Ohio, where the show is set.

Her storylines see her interact with other members of the glee club and form a relationship with Noah Puckerman (Mark Salling).

Following the character's significantly expanded role in the second season, Fink's portrayal received predominantly positive reviews.

Rosie O'Donnell criticized the character, saying that Fink was unattractive and therefore a bad representation of fat people, but later apologized for these remarks.

Lauren made her solo musical debut in the second season, performing The Waitresses' "I Know What Boys Like" in the episode "Comeback".

Although Lauren also appears in ensemble musical performances, Fink is not credited as a vocalist on the series' soundtrack albums.

[1][2] Lauren's role was reduced in the beginning of the third season, and she made a final, non-speaking appearance in the third episode, "Asian F".

[5] She reappears in "Hell-O", when cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester assembles a group of unpopular, lonely students, whom she dubs the "Old Maid's Club".

She finds his song choice insulting and stands him up on a pre-Valentine's date, but eventually agrees to spend Valentine's Day with him as friends.

[13] Neither Lauren nor Puck win the race for prom queen and king,[14] but they remain a couple; they fly with the rest of New Directions to the nationals competition in New York City, where the glee club comes in twelfth out of fifty teams.

She made routine guest appearances throughout the first season, and became a member of the McKinley High glee club in the episode "Special Education".

[16] Fink's favorite element of Glee is how series creator Ryan Murphy manages to take the underdogs and make them shine.

[17] When asked about what she likes about her character, Fink said: "I think what I love about Lauren is she's so strong and so confident and she knows what she wants and I feel very blessed to play a role model for people who have ever felt other or different.

What I appreciate about Lauren is that she's like I don't need to give it to you, you're going to work for it, and I think that's a great message to send to young girls.

[5] TV Squad has said that "Lauren can deliver a zinger with the bite of Sue Sylvester and the humor of our beloved Brittany Pierce.

She’s on the wrestling team, speaks regularly of injuring Puck, and, in one hallway smackdown against the jealous Santana Lopez, proved she was a lot more than just bark.

"[20] He went on to add: "Zizes has been hailed by feminists groups (well, by Bust Magazine) as a new kind of plus-sized heroine—an obese female role model who for once doesn't hate herself.

"[20] Journalist James Poniewozik of Time magazine commented of the episode "Silly Love Songs": "It was the kind of twist Glee can sell, partly because of the way the characters are established (in retrospect, you can see how a really strong woman who rejects him is a turn-on for Puck) and because of how well its cast (Ashley Fink has been killing it as Lauren, and sells her confidence and abrasiveness in a way that makes her a person, not an engineered positive-body-image model).

"[21] Over the course of Glee's second season, Lauren forms a relationship with local bad boy and football star Noah Puckerman.

Fink ends up being a good match for him, chemistry-wise, as she projects a confidence and certainty that makes it immediately obvious just what Puck sees in Lauren.

"[24] In the following episode, VanDerWerff found her relationship with Puck "a lot less assured" than before,[25] but Entertainment Weekly's Sandra Gonzalez deemed their scenes "as endearing as they are unrealistic",[26] and E!

In an interview with Access Hollywood, she deemed her rendition of "I Know What Boys Like" underwhelming, and stated that it failed to meet her expectations.

"[33] Fink was defended by Justin Thompson of Socialite Life, who commented: "I've loved her character and how they've developed her and she's just become a source of great comedy – is that because she's full-figured?

"[32] Raymund Flandez of The Wall Street Journal called Lauren's performance of "I Know What Boys Like" the highlight of "Comeback".