Reneé Rapp is not only known for playing Leighton on HBO Max's The Sex Lives of College Girls, but for her powerhouse vocals and raw, vulnerable songwriting that can be heard on her debut EP, Everything to Everyone. Through her music, the 23-year-old singer has recounted the emotions that come with relationships and heartbreak — including queer experiences in tracks like "What Can I Do."
Reneé, who identifies as a "cis white woman who is bisexual," opened up about her journey with sexuality and how she came to accept herself. She told Call Her Daddy's Alex Cooper that coming to terms with her bisexual identity was a struggle for her as she starred in the first season of The Sex Lives of College Girls as Leighton, a lesbian character who was also navigating her sexuality.
"The first year doing College Girls was terrible," Reneé said on the Feb. 28 episode of the Call Her Daddy podcast. "It sucked so bad. At the time, I was in a heteronormative relationship and I hated going to work." She went on to explain that playing Leighton reminded her of growing up and exploring her identity in North Carolina. She also found herself in a constant "panic" during the first season of shooting the series.
"I will never forget, I sat on my front porch and called one of my friends and I was like, 'I am straight, I think I'm straight, I can't do this,'" Reneé shared. "I was just in panic constantly. I wasn't [straight], but I was so freaked out by the idea of my sexuality not being finite or people laughing at me — or me laughing at myself — that I hated the first year of filming."
Since then, the "Too Well" singer has grown to accept herself as an out bisexual woman and has taken on her TV role in a way that does the LGBTQ+ community justice. "I wanted to play the role in a way that, if I saw it as a kid, it would feel good to me," Reneé told host Alex Cooper, saying that she was "nervous all the time" while working on the show.
Ahead of The Sex Lives of College Girls season 2, Reneé told Seventeen that she's learned so much from playing her character.
"I have become 10 times closer to my personal identity and I have become 10 times more sure of myself — in [terms of my] sexuality, in my identity, in the people who I choose to surround myself with, in what it means to be a good friend, in what it means to have other people be good friends to me. I just feel like I've learned so much about myself," Reneé said of her journey between the first two seasons of The Sex Lives of College Girls.
If you haven't already, check out Reneé's full interview on the Call Her Daddy podcast below.
Sam is an assistant news editor at Cosmo, covering all things pop culture, entertainment, and celebrity news. She previously covered those same topics along with health, lifestyle, and beauty at Seventeen. When she isn't draping her cheeks in blush, you can probably find her live-tweeting awards shows or making SwiftToks.
