The 'Mean Girls' actress will depart the Max comedy as a series regular in the upcoming season.
Reneé Rapp is signing off from The Sex Lives of College Girls.
The actress and Broadway star, who plays wealthy university student Leighton on the Max series, will leave as a series regular in the upcoming third season. Rapp, who reprises her role as Regina George from the Mean Girls musical in the forthcoming big-screen adaptation, will appear in "a handful of episodes" in a recurring capacity before exiting the series, a Max rep confirms to ET.
Rapp addressed her exit with a note posted on her Instagram Story, where she expressed her excitement for the new season and credited the character for being a positive representation for the LGBTQ+ community.
"College Girls moved me out to LA and introduced me to some of my favorite people. [Two] and a half years later -- it's given me y'all and this community. Thank u [co-creators] Mindy [Kaling], Justin [Noble] and everyone at Max for believing in me," the actress wrote.
"A lot of queer work gets belittled, but playing Leighton has changed my life," she continued. "I love who I am 10x more than I did before knowing her. I hope she gave y'all a little bit of that too. She's such a tiny part of representation, but even the tiny parts count. I wouldn't be half the person I am without her, and y'all, I love that b*tch more than you know."
"I'm so excited for this season and I can't wait for you to see what we have coming for her and the girls,' Rapp closed.
Kaling confirmed Rapp's departure on Monday via her Instagram Story, writing, "We love @reneerapp so much and of course will be so sad to say goodbye Leighton Murray! But we can't wait to see our friend on tour!!"
Noble also took to his Instagram Story following news of Rapp's departure, fondly writing that after he and Kaling saw her audition tape, "It barely took two minutes for us to immediately know she was the one" for Leighton. "I'm so proud of her story and how @reneerapp brought her to life with such a nuanced and real and funny and award-winning performance -- and we will miss both Renee and Leighton," he said, followed by a red heart emoji.
The series follows four roommates at Essex College as they navigate school, friendships, relationships and sex, and also stars Pauline Chalamet as Kimberly, Amrit Kaur as Bela and Alya Chanelle Scott as Whitney. The Sex Lives of College Girls marked Rapp's television debut.
Season 2 ended with Rapp's Leighton coming out as a lesbian to her father and quitting her college sorority after several alumni make offensive remarks about the trans and nonbinary community.
Rapp, who identifies as bisexual, recently opened up about her experience filming season 1 of Sex Lives while she, herself, was questioning her own sexual identity.
"The first year doing College Girls was terrible. It was terrible," she admitted on the Call Her Daddy podcast in March. "It sucked so bad, because at the time, I was in a heteronormative relationship. I hated going to work, because I was like, 'I don't think I'm like good enough to be here. I don't think I can be here. I don't think I can be doing this.' I was like, 'Maybe I'm just trying too hard.' And then I would come home and I would psych myself out, literally."
"I will never forget [how] I sat on my front porch, called one of my friends, and I was like, 'I am straight... I think I'm just straight. I can't do this. I can't do this.' And they were like, 'What the f**k is going on with you?' And I was like, 'I don't know. I don't know, but I can't.'" Rapp recalled. "I was just in a panic constantly. And 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 first year of filming."
Though things improved as time went on, Rapp acknowledged she constantly thinks about comparisons audiences may make with her and her Sex Lives character.
"I enjoy acting. I enjoy playing Leighton. I enjoy having that. I enjoy getting to be with Alyah, who's my best friend, on set every single day... That is a godsend," she said, before quipping, "I do have to wear those tweed sets, though."
While Rapp's time on Sex Lives will be coming to a close, she'll be hitting the road beginning Sept. 15 in Houston, Texas, on the Snow Hard Feelings Tour through March 2024.
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