Over the years, many people from our home state of North Carolina have risen to stardom, pursuing careers anywhere from acting to music. A few actors include Drew Starkey, Madison Bailey, Luke Combs and Ariana DeBose. Currently in the national spotlight, however, is 24-year-old American actress and singer Reneé Rapp. She has overcome numerous obstacles over the years to get to where she is today, starting as a young high school girl in Huntersville, N.C., with a passion for musical theater to starring in the new movie musical “Mean Girls.”

In 2018, Rapp was picked to attend the Jimmy Awards in New York City, which allows high school talent to be recognized on a much greater level and provides teens the chance to perform with other students who have the same passion as them. Rapp won a top prize at these awards and started to get recognized for her amazing talent. With that award under her belt, she was given the opportunity to play the iconic Regina George in the Broadway musical “Mean Girls” at the age of 19. 

This role was extremely important to her career; Rapp was wildly known for her great acting skills, incredible singing talent and her iconic belting in the show’s song, “World Burn.” During her time playing the role, she received a lot of criticism: she was heavily body-shamed and ended up developing an eating disorder because of it. 

Rapp played the iconic role on Broadway from 2019 to 2020, with her time sadly shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When everything shut down, live theater took a huge blow, and it has taken the industry a very long time to get to where it is now. Even though many performers took a break during the pandemic, Rapp persisted. 

In November 2020 the show “The Sex Lives of College Girls” started filming, and Rapp was cast as a main character. The show aired in November 2021 on HBO Max, becoming a hit among audiences. While this was a huge success for her and her career, she wanted to go back to music, so she signed with Interscope Records and released her first song on June 3, 2022. 

Her song “Tattoos” was a massive success among her fans of the HBO Max show as well as fans who knew her from her days as Regina George. The song paints a beautiful picture of the fears and insecurities about growing up and falling in and out of love, which resonated with many listeners. With the success of the song, she continued to make music and released her first EP, “Everything to Everyone,” on Nov. 11, 2022. The EP consists of seven beautifully written songs with deep meanings.

With her EP gaining the attention it deserved, Rapp continued writing and announced that her first album would be released on Aug. 18, 2023. The studio album, “Snow Angel,” has 12 tracks and four bonus songs that were released a few months later. Like her previous songs, these tracks consist of hard-hitting and meaningful lyrics. The tracks are enjoyable to listen to and show off Rapp’s incredible vocals that we’ve all grown to know and love. 

After going on tour with her new album, she was announced to be in the new “Mean Girls” musical movie. This came as a huge shock to fans of the original 2004 film and fans of the Broadway musical. Supporters of Rapp were excited to see her reprise the role of Regina George after her time in the Broadway spotlight was cut short. The movie was released on Jan. 12, 2024, and took box offices by storm, even surpassing the original traction of the 2004 classic.

Rapp has accomplished so much in her career and she is only 24-years-old. She went from a high school musical theatre lover to a widely successful music artist and the star of a movie that broke records. She has truly been an inspiration for women and queer people everywhere. She projects the narrative that you can do anything you work hard for and put your mind to, along with not caring what others think of you and just being your genuine self.

“What I think is beautiful about this younger generation is that we have more grace about finding your identity and how these things change and loving that part of yourself.” – Reneé Rapp