Warning: Discussion of eating disorders.
Reneé Rapp looked back at her time on Mean Girls on Broadway and how it worsened her eating disorder.
Reneé made her Broadway debut as Regina George four years ago when she was just 19, immediately making her the source of discussion. She'll be reprising the role in the upcoming movie adaptation, which was first announced in January 2020.
Speaking to the Guardian about her time on Broadway in the show, she alleged that some people on the production “would say some vile fucking things to me about my body” which exacerbated her eating disorder. In fact, she said that it got to the point where her parents went to New York to try and get her out of the show due to concerns for her health.
While she said that leaving Mean Girls did improve her health, her parents are “more worried than they ever have been, because they know more now” amid her burgeoning music career.
"Eating disorders don’t just go away and like, you’re healed, like, ‘Sorry, I can eat again, ha ha!’ It’s a lifelong thing. There are battles with addiction and whatever everywhere," she continued. "I still struggle with it, but at least my parents know that I’ve been taken out of environments that were really harmful to my sickness, which is awesome and a huge win."
Renée spoke to NME in January, a month before filming began on the Mean Girls: The Musical movie, and said that it was “so cool” to play Regina again — but that she wasn't without apprehension. "To be super-transparent, I loved doing Mean Girls on Broadway, but I was also very sick,” she said at the time. “I’ve struggled with an eating disorder my whole life, and I had a lot of shit happen during that time. And so my biggest thing right now is trying to prepare myself to go into the filming environment with a way healthier mindset. Because I don’t want to fall back into anything.”
You can read the full Guardian interview with Renée here.
The National Eating Disorders Association helpline is 1-800-931-2237; for 24/7 crisis support, text “NEDA” to 741741.