Reneé Rapp is sharing insight into her less-than-fetch experiences in Hollywood.
The Sex Live of College Girls star, who announced she was leaving the Max series last year, got candid about how working on the new Mean Girls movie proved to be a life-changing experience for her.
"The people in my life that I work with now care about me as a person," Reneé told Vanity Fair in an interview published on Jan. 9. "And I think that is a difference from things I've experienced in the past."
The "Colorado" singer was cast as Regina George in Mean Girls—a role she previously played on Broadway—during a time when she felt "jaded and really angry and sad and bullied."
"I was like, I hate the industry," she admitted, expressing how that all changed when Mean Girls writer and producer Tina Fey offered her the role. "It was really exciting. I have a new start."
Reneé also subtly called out those in Hollywood who present a different version of themselves publicly than they are in real life, noting, "A lot of people talk about lifting women up and being a f--king feminist. And behind the scenes, it's really not that."
But as she added that, "Tina is exactly as good of a person as she is hilarious and intelligent."
The 23-year-old previously shared insight into her struggle adapting to Hollywood, admitting it impacted how she felt working on Sex Lives of College Girls.
"The first year doing College Girls was terrible," she explained on Call Her Daddy last February. "It sucked so bad. At the time, I was in a heteronormative relationship and I hated going to work."
"I was like, 'I don't think I'm good enough to be here,'" she added. "'I don't think I can be here. I don't think I can be doing this. Maybe I'm just trying too hard?' I would come home and I would psych myself out, literally."
Last July, Reneé confirmed that she would be leaving the hit series during its third season, which is set to air in the spring of 2024.
"College Girls moved me out to LA and introduced me to some of my favorite people," she wrote on social media. "2 and a half years later—it's given me y'all and this community."
After thanking co-creators Mindy Kaling and Justin Noble for "believing" in her, Reneé, reflected on how important her journey on the show was for her.
"A lot of queer work gets belittled—but playing Leighton has changed my life," she continued. "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. She's such a tiny part of representation but even the tiny parts count. I wouldn't be half the person I am without her and y'all."
Keep reading to learn 15 sizzling secrets from the original Mean Girls movie.