Reneé Rapp in August 2023.Photo:Rodin Eckenroth/FilmMagic
Rodin Eckenroth/FilmMagic
After the news of her step back fromMindy Kaling’s hit showSex Lives of College Girlsbroke in July,Renée Rappadmits that she has more to say about it — but she can’t due to theSAG-AFTRA strike.
“I definitely have feelings about it and what that means for the show and me and my music,” she tells PEOPLE exclusively.
“But I can’t really comment on anything just due to the SAG and the WGA strike. It prohibits me from talking about it, but I have a lot of feelings about it,” the 23-year-old singer-songwriter adds.
In July, a source close to production told PEOPLE that Rapp, who plays Leighton Murray on the Max show, would no longer appear as a series regular. She is still set to appear in a handful of episodes on a recurring basis.
Sex Lives of College Girls.Katrina Marcinowski/HBO Max
Katrina Marcinowski/HBO Max
Amid the shakeup, the “Too well” singershared a statement on X(formerly known as Twitter) and told fans that taking on the role as Leighton had “changed my life.”
“College girls moved me out to LA and introduced me to some of my favorite people. 2 and a half years later – it’s given me y’all and this community,” she wrote before extending gratitude to the show’s creators. “Thank uMindy [Kaling], Justin [Noble] and everyone at Max for believing in me.”
She added, “A lot of queer work gets belittled – but playing Leighton has changed my life. I love who I am 10x more than I did before knowing her. I hope she gave y’all a little bit of that too.”
Though she claimed that television has a long way to go, Rapp acknowledged that the “tiny part of representation” she gave to viewers as a queer character still counted.
“I wouldn’t be half the person I am without her and y’all," the singer concluded. “I love that bitch more than you know. I’m so excited for this season and I can’t wait for you to see what we have coming for her and the girls.”
Reneé Rapp in Mean Girls.Joan Marcus
Joan Marcus
The “In the Kitchen” artist is also set to reprise her role as Regina George in Paramount’s upcomingMean GirlsThe Musicalmovie alongside Angourie Rice, Jaquel Spivey andAuli’i Cravalhoafter previously starring in the Broadway adaptation.
In December, sheopened up to PEOPLEabout her candid EP,Everything to Everyone,and her music career dreams coming true.
“I’ve been saying that [music] is my thing my whole life, without having really done it,” Rapp told PEOPLE at the time. “I was like, ‘This is it.’ I’ve been professing that I wanna do this, I wanna play shows, I wanna make it, but it wasn’t until about a week ago that I knew I could actually do that.”
As she moves forward, Rapp isfocusing on her music careerwith the release ofSnow Angelon Friday. Then, in September, she’ll kick off her Snow Hard Feelings Tour. As for her future in acting, Rapp says she has “no idea how anything will happen.”
“I just want to do anything that makes me happy and makes me feel really supported,” she says.
For more from Reneé Rapp, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands everywhere Friday.
source: people.com
