The 'Mean Girls' star joins the ranks of the brand's famous faces Eva Longoria, Heidi Klum, Kendall Jenner and Cara Delevingne. "And don't forget Viola!" Rapp says. "I would lay my life on the line for Viola Davis."
Reneé Rapp does things her way -- even when joining the ranks of one of the largest and most celebrated beauty brands in the world.
"We've been working on this deal for years," Rapp tells PEOPLE of her shiny new title, L'Oréal Paris brand ambassador.
The actor and singer-songwriter describes breaking out onto the scene a few years ago as being "shot out of a canon." She had the HBO series Sex Lives of College Girls. Tina Fey cast her in the new Mean Girls. She had the hit duet "Not My Fault" with Megan Thee Stallion. And her debut album Snow Angel was the biggest selling debut album by a female artist in 2023.
She's famously (infamously?) candid. Like, so candid there have been public pleas from fans for her to never receive media training. Which brings this interview to L'Oréal Paris' legendary tag line: "Because You're Worth It."
That kind of swagger is pretty on brand for Rapp. "100 percent," she agrees. "I practiced the line so many times!" Rapp says, laughing. When asked to say it, she says, "Not yet."
Jokes aside, this is a huge moment for the 25-year-old Gen-Z It girl.
"I can't believe they asked me," she says. Rapp agrees with not only what the company stands for -- individuality, authenticity and empowering women -- but who they stand with.
"L'Oréal Paris is global, and when I think about the integrity of what I do, I really care about trying to reach the most people," she says. "A global outlook is inclusive."
And one of the best parts of the new gig? Rapp even knows some of her new coworkers.
"I love Jane Fonda. Viola Davis, I would lay my life on the line for Viola. And Cara [Delevingne] -- she has become one of my best friends. So knowing that I was going into this situation, knowing that we can be confident in this together really helped," she adds. "Look, I roll deep. I bring all my friends to work. Sometimes I bring my mom, sometimes I bring my dad. I bring people from my label. I bring people because I believe that you have power in numbers."
Rapp says her L'Oréal Paris ambassadorship could not have been a better fit, adding that it was "absolutely" worth the wait.
The top brass at L'Oréal Paris agrees. "Reneé is a feminist artist who embodies how to be your authentic self, embrace your choices, and never be dictated to," says Delphine Viguier-Hovasse, the brand's global president. She went to Rapp's concert a while back in Paris and was struck at how the Gen Z audience related to Rapp -- and vice versa. "They felt understood by her."
Of course, she loves the products too.
"I walked into work and I was about to go sit down in the makeup chair," she remembers. "And I saw two of my best friends, and said, 'Guys, your skin looks insane. What are you wearing?' I sound like such a walking ad. And they're like, 'We're actually wearing the Lumi Glotion.'"
The Lumi Glotion is L'Oréal Paris' viral sun-kissed bronzing drop, which Rapp also keeps in her rotation alongside the brand's new Lumi Le Glow Highlighter Sticks, which give makeup lovers that sought-after glass skin finish in an easy-to-apply stick format.
"Obviously, when you work with a brand, like you're supposed to say like, "Oh yes, I like X, Y, and Z." But I think I'm fairly transparent. If I don't really like something, I am not really going to work with somebody."