Reneé Rapp Says Her Mom Manifested Her Career By Giving Her a ‘Pop Star' Name
Reneé Rapp can thank her mom for her career in music. Speaking on podcast Good Hang with Amy Poehler, Rapp shared that her mom, Denise Rapp, specifically chose her name to ensure success.
'My mom chose my first and last name to be—well, okay, arguably chose my first and last name to both have R's,' Rapp told Poehler. 'She was like, 'Alliteration, just in case she wants to be a pop star.' Like before I was born.' She added that she's aware the decision was 'conceited,' but said 'I'm obsessed with the way she did it. I'm like, 'Thank you, God.''
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Poehler replied, 'She gave you a pop star name just in case, because Reneé Rapp is a huge pop star name.' Rapp agreed: 'It's a really good one!' Poehler added, 'And Reneé Rapp is a huge pop star.'
Elsewhere in the interview Rapp spoke about developing as a singer, meeting Beyoncé, and coming out on Saturday Night Live. She recounted being on SNL and how some of the writers wrote a sketch where she would be referred to as a 'little bisexual intern.'
'At that time I was very publicly bisexual,' Rapp said. 'I had been for a very long time. In private I was talking with my girlfriend and a lot of my friends for the last maybe eight months before that of being like, 'I actually don't really feel very bi at the moment. I feel very much like a lesbian and it feels so nice and that word feels amazing.'' She asked the writers to change the sketch to 'lesbian.'
'Labeling yourself publicly is really, really, really empowering,' Rapp added. 'And also, I think, can be kind of intimidating.' She said that coming out as a lesbian on SNL was 'pretty cunty,' but it felt 'so fucking good' and she 'didn't even look online' at the response after.
Earlier this week, Rapp live debuted a new song, 'Leave Me Alone,' at the American Music Awards. 'Leave Me Alone' marked the first release from Rapp as a lead artist since sharing the deluxe edition of her debut album Snow Angel in 2023, and is a glimpse into her forthcoming second LP, Bite Me, out Aug. 1.
On the single, Rapp takes jabs at her departure from the recently-cancelled HBO Max series Sex Lives of College Girls and her label chasing her down for new music. 'Signed a hundred NDAs but I still say something/Leave me alone, bitch, I wanna have fun/Took my sex life with me, now the show ain't fuckin',' she sings over banging percussion and blaring guitars. 'Can I tell you a secret/I'm so sick of it all.'
Rapp left Sex Lives after two seasons to focus on her music career. The series was cancelled following the conclusion of its third season. By that point, the singer had already moved on to headlining tours in support of Snow Angel, packed festival sets, and a lead role in the film adaptation of Mean Girls: the Musical.
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And with Jeremy, our relationship has naturally evolved on-camera, and I feel closer to him now off-camera. I genuinely didn't know how [the scene in episode 2] was going to come out in the moment. I didn't know how emotional it would feel, and that's how [show creator] Chris Storer approaches everything: It's all really fresh and not overly rehearsed. And every time I'm [filming a scene] on the phone, there is an actor also on the [other side of the] phone. Jeremy was really on the phone with me, and Carmy's felt so different this time than the times that he's apologized in the past. Now that Carmy and Natalie are in this emotional place together and she says this thing, it almost feels like a seed she's planting. It brings him to a different place. And then we see her come into the restaurant with the baby, and his face lights up. The way it's shot is so light; the directorial choices were so beautiful in that moment. Everything's coming to light, literally and figuratively. Absolutely. I think, now more than ever, she needs support. She's a new mom, and she still has this very complicated relationship with [her mother] Donna. Them coming together and connecting in the labor episode [last season]? That wasn't really this reconciliation. She's still like, 'Fuck this' when her mom calls her. I think she knows she needs support now. And Pete is a huge part of that. He's the antithesis of how she grew up, and you see her being grateful for him. In the wedding episode, she's reassuring him that she wasn't in love with Francie; it's always been Pete. I love those moments with him, and I love the moments in bed where Nat and him are being affectionate. I think they're so important for Nat's character, to see her not just being walked on and giving too much of herself to Carmy and the restaurant. Chris Storer and I have been having conversations about this since season 2, when the concept of Francie first gets introduced. We were like, 'Who is she?' We talked about Stassi [Schroeder] from Vanderpump Rules. And we were like, 'I think she's kind of like Stassi.' Then, I think it was between seasons 2 and 3, I was at the L.A. Natural History Museum, and I saw Stassi. I was like, 'Oh my God.' I was so embarrassed because my kid was having a tantrum and her kid was so well-behaved, and [Storer] was like, 'This is perfect. This is so Natalie and Francie.' Another thing that Chris and I talked about: I was watching a reality show with all these women at this wedding in those Hill House nap dresses. And I was like, 'It'd be so funny if [Francie and Natalie] are going at each other in these Little-Bo-Peep pastel dresses.' So we tried to do that with the wardrobe in episode 7; she's wearing a headband and I'm wearing a headband. Everything's very cute, and then we're going into this dark drunken backstory. It was my favorite thing to shoot. That episode felt so much like My Best Friend's Wedding and The Wedding Singer and all of those kind of '90s/2000s movies that you watch and you're like, 'Oh, I wish I was at that wedding.' There was a scene in My Best Friend's Wedding, which takes place in Chicago, and [Julia Roberts and Cameron Diaz] are in the bathroom at Wrigley Field. Cameron's wearing a little headband and she's in pastel, and she goes off on Julia's character. I kept watching that scene before [filming episode 7] to really get me into it. So much goes down at weddings. It's such a perfect backdrop for drama and comedy. And then when Brie stepped in, it made it all the more perfect. We really hit it off. I think we're pretty similar, and she's so funny. I love her. We were simpatico from the start, which was so much fun to play. And even though we do, sort of, find out [the source of Natalie and Francie's feud], it's still a little unclear! When I was in the scene and when I performed it, I just felt heartbreak for Carmy. I felt heartbreak that he couldn't bring himself in to Mikey's funeral, that he was there and he couldn't get himself to go in. But then I think Sugar's overcome with pride for how far he's come. In that moment, she wants him to be okay. That hug is a hug of support: I got you. I'm going to lift you up and get you to where you want to be. If we were to have that opportunity, I'd love to see her continue supporting Carmy—to have this relationship with him that is now in a good place, a loving place on both sides. I think that she's so capable. She has this healthy work-life balance where... Yes, she's ambitious, but she's not going to [drive herself to the brink] over this restaurant. This was never really her dream. She's here for her brother, to support him, and then she fell in love with it and loves the Bear family. She has her home life, which is very satisfying to her, but she also knows how to operate the restaurant. She knows what she's doing. I'd like to see her continue down that path. For entertainment purposes, I would love to see her with Donna. I'd love to see Donna coming over to babysit. And then having something happen. [Laughs.] This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
