When Rene Rapp found out she would be playing Regina George, the meanest of the Mean Girls, on Broadway, she was barely 19 years old.
She played the part again on the big screen last year.
Rapp is now keeping a watch on the pop charts. She still has a bit of a “mean girl” streak, if the title of her most recent album, Bite Me, is any guide.
Despite only 25 years old, Rene Rapp exudes the assurance of an accomplished performer. She claims that’s how a lot of people perceive her.
Rapp told Morning Edition host A Martnez, “My dad has always told me that the most confident people in the room are the ones who know they’re insecure.” “I do believe that this is what I was meant to do and that I was intended to do it, but I also believe that this carries a heavy emotional cost. Additionally, I suffer from tremendous anxiety over every single f***ing choice I make.
A common topic across Bite Me’s songs is anger. In the song “Mad,” Rapp chastises a romantic partner for taking pleasure in maintaining their rage long after a disagreement has ended.
I would want to have that adorable little face.
And jolt you into rationality, such as
Hello, you!
You wasted so much time being angry.
We had the option of being foolish or cute.
Sincerely, Rapp admits, “I feel my emotions to a 10.” She claims that she has been accused of being excessively angry and harboring resentment in past relationships.
“It’s so funny, I’m really confrontational in life, but in my close, personal and intimate relationships, I am so levelheaded and calm (when I’m sober!),” she stated.
Rapp also notes that women are not generally pardoned for expressing anger in public, although men are. “I worked at a job that basically emotionally abused me. ‘Hey, you guys can’t really treat me like that,’ I thought as I began to lose my temper. They would say, ‘Woof, what a drama queen!’ This is unethical. You turned this conduct into a weapon so you could do as you pleased and treat me as you like,” she stated. “So I have a great relationship to anger, I think it’s really healthy.”
Since making her Broadway debut, Rapp’s career has taken off, landing her a role in the HBO Max series The Sex Lives of College Girls, an album deal, and concert tours. In an effort to keep her career on track, she has been surrounded by managers and advisors. However, a cursory look at a few of Bite Me’s song titles provides some clue as to how she was feeling at the time of that climb: “Leave Me Alone,” “Why Is She Still Here?,” “I Can’t Have You Around Me Anymore,” “I Like You Better When You’re Gone.”
Regarding that period, Rapp remarked, “I feel so swallowed by everybody and everything that I don’t even know who I am anymore.” I can’t recall the last time I felt joy. Oh, it was very gloomy. Interestingly, I had never felt more alone despite being surrounded by more people.
With this album, Rapp started to take charge of her career. “I simply felt that I needed to be reborn and get rid of everything that was connected to me. She said, “Go run and do what I want to do.”
This story’s audio version was prepared by Kaity Kline. Olivia Hampton edited the digital version.
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