Reneé Rapp Recalls Having Eating Disorder While in ‘Mean Girls’ Musical: People Said ‘Vile Things to Me About My Body’

Reneé Rapp walked away from her breakout role in Broadway's Mean Girls.

In a candid interview with The Guardian published Wednesday, Rapp shared that she was fresh out of high school and a coveted Jimmy Award recipient when she moved from a small town in North Carolina to New York City. She had just landed the role as ultimate mean girl and queen bee Regina George in the musical adaptation of the 2004 film.

Still, behind the scenes, she was a 19-year-old navigating an eating disorder. Her condition worsened as some of the staffers "would say some vile f---ing things about my body," Rapp recalled.

Ahead of the coronavirus pandemic, Rapp hit a low point, and her parents noticed the toll the musical was taking on her health — so they flew to New York City.

However, stepping away from the show — which she said did improve her health — didn't completely calm her parents' concerns.

Rapp confessed that as she prioritizes her music career with her newly-released album Snow Angel, her parents are "more worried than they ever have been, because they know more now."

"Eating disorders don't just go away and like, you're healed, like: 'Sorry, I can eat again, ha ha!'" Rapp explained. "It's a lifelong thing. There are battles with addiction and whatever everywhere. 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. They worry like hell, but they're chilling, I guess."

Opening up about her mental and emotional state, Rapp said being diagnosed with a mood disorder last year served as a relief.

"Getting diagnosed made me feel — and this is a derogatory term, if you want to talk about mental health — like I wasn't just stupid, like I felt for so long. I used to beat myself up asking like: 'Why can't I do this?' and, as a kid, hearing people say: 'Suck it up and stop.'"

She added that she's unashamed to talk about her health journey after she "suffered in silence for so many years."

"My generation and the generation that will follow mine is much more open — especially women, non-men, queer people. I do think I've been afforded more opportunities than women before me, men and queer women before me," said the Sex Lives of College Girls star. "This generation is still super mean to each other. But we are more outspoken — and give less of a f---."