From bursting onto our screens as the memorable Leighton Murray in The Sex Lives of College Girls to releasing two studio albums and taking on the role of the iconic Regina George – it’s safe to say 23-year-old Reneé Rapp is kind of a big deal.
The North Carolina Native has made the jump from Broadway to Hollywood in recent years and has become a Gen Z icon thanks to her amazing voice, killer fashion and relatable TikToks.
Now, as she prepares for her role as Queen B Regina George in the upcoming Mean Girls, we’re rounding up everything you need to know about the rising star.
Who is Reneé Rapp?
Reneé Jane Rapp is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Born in North Carolina, Reneé won the Jimmy Award for Best Performance by an Actress for her high school’s production of Big Fish in 2018 before beginning a career on Broadway.
In 2019, Reneé stepped into the of Regina George in the Tony Award-nominated Broadway musical, Mean Girls, however, the production closed in March 2020, per Broadway’s COVID shutdown.
Although the show did not re-open, Reneé moved onto the silver screen joining the ensemble cast for Mindy Kaling’s Hit HBO show The Sex Lives of College Girls. Playing the role of Leighton Murray, the actress starred in the first two seasons which were released in 2021 and 2022 respectively.
In late 2022 it was announced Reneé would reprise her role as Regina George in the film adaption of the Mean Girls musical alongside, Angourie Rice, Tina Fey and Christopher Briney.
Whilst Reneé has had a busy few years acting, she has also focused on developing her music career, releasing her debut EP Everything to Everyone in January 2023, and her debut studio album Snow Angel was released the following August 18.
How old is Reneé Rapp
Reneé was born on January 10, 2000, which means she is currently 23 years old.
Has Reneé Rapp quit acting?
In a September 2023 profile for the Los Angeles Times, Reneé revealed she had no desire to return to acting following the release of Mean Girls, explaining she didn’t enjoy the anxiety she felt on set nor the working environment.
But that’s not to say she is stepping away from the spotlight – with Reneé telling the publication that being a “pop star” and singer was always her ultimate goal. “Acting had just been a vehicle to get to music,” John Janick, the chairman and chief executive of Interscope Geffen A&M recalled her telling him at the time.
“I feel like this [pursuing music] has been the ongoing chapter that I’ve been trying to convince everyone of,” she told The Line of Best Fit.
“This [music] is the thing I was always most excited about. Other things that have happened along the way have been so sick — cool opportunities that have taught me a lot and it definitely put me to where I am now. But I’m so happy to finally be doing music. It just feels like me… I feel like a full version of myself when I’m doing this.”
Although she may be taking a step back from Hollywood, you can expect to see her in the upcoming third season of The Sex Lives of College Girls.
Following news of her departure, she confirmed she is still set to appear in a handful of episodes on a recurring basis, she just won’t be returning as a series regular.
Is Reneé Rapp in a relationship?
Reneé was previously linked to fellow Broadway star Antonio Cipriano, however, fans believe they split up sometime during 2021. In February 2023, the singer confirmed she was in a relationship during her appearance on the Call Her Daddy Podcast.
“I am very happy, and I am seeing somebody that makes me really happy,” said. “I feel very appreciated. I don’t feel like I’ve been made to feel small or like I need to make myself smaller to make them feel comfortable.”
Although she didn’t confirm who she was speaking about, fans have linked her to TikTok personality Alissa Carrington.
“I swore up and down I would never be in a public relationship and then I just found someone who I really loved and made me feel really safe and comfortable,” she told People in August 2023.
“So, then I started posting with this person, and then it became a whole thing. Now I’m like, f–k, I have to deal with the consequences of my own actions of publicly co-signing someone as my partner.”
Although Reneé has opted to keep details of her relationship largely out of the public eye, she has spoken at length about her sexual identity.
In a 2021 Vogue interview, she came out as queer when speaking of the similarities between herself and her Sex Lives of College Girls character Leighton.
“I’m a white, bisexual woman, so there’s a sense in which my queerness is very palatable,” she told the publication.
“Truly, though, so much of Leighton is me, and so much of Leighton has helped me understand myself. I don’t think that I had an amazing relationship to my queerness, but through playing Leighton, I feel like I’m being much more openly queer, because it is a public part of who I am, and I’m very proud of that.”
Speaking with Vulture in November 2021, Reneé reiterated her preference for the term queer when describing herself over labels such as bisexual.
“I usually just use the term queer,” she told the publication. “I’m 21, and there will be days that I go to my partner and be like, ‘We need to have a conversation because I think I’m this.’ And then I’ll come back and be like, ‘No, I’m this.’ It’s a queer, evolving story.”
During the interview, she added that was grateful to be a part of a generation that has, “More grace about finding your identity and how these things change and loving that part of yourself.”
Does Reneé Rapp write her songs?
Yes, Reneé writes her own songs and has writing credits on every song in her catalogue alongside her main collaborator and close friend, Alexander 23.
Speaking about her writing sessions, she told The Lines of Best Fit, that the process with Alexander felt different. “He was one of the first people that I was talking to that I was like, Oh, you actually think that I’m interesting. I also think that I’m interesting, but it’s really nice that somebody else also kind of sees that and was really intrigued by a lot of the quirks and things that I would say that I think would go over a lot of other people’s heads.”
He was one of the first men that actually really listened to me and valued my opinion musically.”
Is Reneé Rapp Religious?
Born to an accountant mother and a father who worked in medical sales, Reneé’s family wasn’t religious. “I was never part of a religion growing up,” she told The Grammys.
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