Yes, We’re Still Trying to Make These Mean Girls Secrets Happen

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Raise your hand if you’ve ever felt personally victimized that Oct. 3 is not a national holiday. 

While Swifties are excitedly filling their time this Friday searching for hidden clues in The Life of a Showgirl, it’s worth remembering that Mean Girls fans have been enjoying this tradition for over twenty years. With all due respect to the enthusiasm, Mean Girls celebrations have a longer history.

If you’re not completely familiar with the complex social dynamics depicted in teen movies-specifically, the setting of North Shore High in the 2004 film Mean GirlsLindsay Lohan’s character, Cady Heron, started speaking with her love interest, Aaron Samuels (Jonathan Bennett), “more and more.”

For instance, “On Oct. 3, he asked me what day it was.” 

That memorable scene is just one reason we’re still working to complete the Tina Fey-written movie. The teen comedy, which was based on Rosalind Wiseman‘s self-help book Queen Bees and Wannabes, launched Rachel McAdams, Amanda Seyfried, and Lacey Chabert to fame and turned them into young stars. It also had many of us repeating lines like “You go, Glen Coco!” and “None for Gretchen Wieners” as we updated our burn books.

And although the 2023 Mean Girls movie musical, featuring Reneé Rapp and Angourie Rice, was pretty great, it’s not our problem if we still prefer the original, is it?

This story doesn’t just show what happens when someone who’s homeschooled and doesn’t quite fit in tries to become friends with the popular group led by Regina George (aka, the mean girls) – it’s also packed with endlessly memorable and funny lines. There’s really no limit to how many quotable moments it has.

And since we’re not just ordinary fans, but truly dedicated ones, we know all the hidden details and secrets subtly revealed through Gretchen Wieners’ hair.

Initially, there was a greater than 30% possibility that Seyfried was already considering a different project, and Lohan was intensely focused on another role.

Let’s take a trip down memory lane, everyone! Then, we’ll bake a delicious cake bursting with rainbows and smiles – a treat for everyone to enjoy and brighten their day. It’s going to be great!

While filming Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen in Toronto, Lindsay Lohan received a visit from director Mark Waters-he’d previously directed her in Freaky Friday. He offered her a part in his new movie, and she immediately knew which role she wanted.

I was eager to play Regina. I had recently finished filming-in Confessions and Freaky-roles that weren’t the popular girl in high school,” she told Entertainment Weekly in 2014. “I was still quite young, only 17, and I really wanted to portray that cool girl on set.” However, difficulties arose in finding an actress capable of playing Cady and effectively challenging Regina, coupled with the big hit that Freaky Friday became. This led those in charge to realize a shift in direction was needed.

Sherry Lansing, the head of Paramount at the time, explained to us that Lindsay Lohan had to play the main character in Mean Girls. She said that Lindsay wouldn’t be believable as the villain because she’d already built an audience who expected her to play the hero, as Waters shared with Vulture in 2014. He was the one who had to tell Lindsay this, and she somewhat reluctantly agreed, saying, ‘Okay, I guess I’ll play the lead. At least I get to have more lines.’

Before Tina Fey decided to replace Lindsay Lohan as Regina George, she had a number of actresses audition with her to play Cady Heron. Among those was Rachel McAdams, who was 24 years old at the time.

Waters recalled watching her perform the scene and, afterward, telling her, ‘I think you’re a movie star, but you’re simply too mature to portray this character. You won’t be able to convincingly play the innocent young woman.’ She responded, ‘No, I understand, I see what you mean.‘

When it was time to find the perfect person to play Regina, choosing Rachel McAdams just felt right. As she explained to EW, director Mark Waters felt that while I’d initially envisioned Cady a bit younger, it made sense for Regina to have matured a little *too* quickly. It really fit the character, and I couldn’t imagine anyone else in the role! It was a brilliant decision.

3. Before McAdams was cast as Regina, she first needed to convince the director to choose her over another actress who would later become a co-star: Amanda Seyfried. The Mamma Mia! actress was a strong contender for the role of the villain before she became known as the wonderfully silly Karen.

She auditioned for the role of Regina and was remarkably talented, offering a performance quite unlike Rachel’s. She portrayed the character with a delicate, almost otherworldly quality, yet still managed to be unsettling. She created a more frightening effect, but surprisingly, wasn’t as imposing,” Waters remembered, then mentioned that producer Lorne Michaels was the one who suggested she be considered for “the naive character.”

He continued, “So she came in and read it and nailed it, and we got the best of both worlds.”

As someone who’s seen a lot of movies come and go, it’s hard for me to picture Mean Girls without Tim Meadows and Amy Poehler as Mr. Duvall and Mrs. George! But, interestingly enough, director Mark Waters shared that Paramount Pictures actually had some reservations about casting them in those roles. It just goes to show you, even iconic pairings aren’t always a sure thing from the start!

He explained to Vulture that Paramount was hesitant about Saturday Night Live. They had previously had bad experiences with films based on Saturday Night Live content from Lorne Michaels, so they didn’t want to include too many Saturday Night Live actors in Mean Girls. Their concern was that the movie might be perceived as an SNL film, which could discourage audiences from seeing it.

According to Waters, Meadows-who had previously appeared in Paramount’s unsuccessful movie adaptation of The Ladies Man-required “a lot of convincing” with the studio.

Thankfully, Waters chose Poehler for the role, as she ultimately played a key part in developing Kevin Gnapoor’s rap performance for the talent show. Actually, Fey asked her former Weekend Update co-star to write the song for actor Rajiv Surendra.

Waters shared that she will definitely acknowledge Amy’s contribution to this, explaining that Amy is more skilled in rap. “Amy really helped him with the rap itself, and she even taught him some of the dance moves and choreography,” she said.

6. When Paramount submitted Mean Girls to the MPAA for a rating, the ratings board initially attempted to give it an R rating. The studio then had to argue their case to make sure the movie’s target audience could actually go to the theater and see it.

As a longtime fan, I remember reading that even for the PG-13 version of the film, a surprising amount of content had to be cut. Tina Fey told Variety back in 2018 that she specifically thought, ‘If this was a movie about a boys’ school, ‘Is your cherry popped?’ wouldn’t have even *been* a problem!’ They ended up changing that line to the much milder “Is your muffin buttered?” But it wasn’t all about giving in to restrictions; the filmmakers definitely stood their ground on some things, too.

According to John Waters, the issue that caused the most trouble with the ratings board was a joke about a woman’s anatomy. He told Vulture, ‘They said we couldn’t get a PG-13 rating unless we removed that line.’ We argued that the board was being sexist, pointing out that Anchorman had received a PG-13 despite a scene showing Ron Burgundy with an erection. We explained, ‘You’re objecting to this simply because it’s a woman talking about her body. There was no sexual content, and suggesting this limits young girls’ exposure is insulting to all women.’ Ultimately, the ratings board agreed and allowed the line to remain.”

Although Jonathan Bennett was the one who famously asked Lindsay Lohan what day it was-October 3rd!-several other actors were considered for the part of Aaron Samuels.

In a 2014 interview with Cosmopolitan, Daniel Franzese (the actor who played Damian) shared that the role was initially given to a well-known actor who lost the part during the first reading of the script.

Franzese explained that another actor hadn’t shaved and kept his hat on, seemingly trying to appear nonchalant. “I was hesitant to name the star, not wanting to embarrass him,” Franzese said. “People kept approaching him, suggesting he remove his hat. Then, immediately after the script read-through, he was let go, and they hired Jonathan Bennett, who I understand was their backup plan.”

8. But Franzese shared even more information. He said, “Lindsay also recently mentioned that James Franco was being thought of for the part of Aaron Samuels even before [the actor who was fired].” He continued, “I found that really interesting-Bennett did a great job, but James Franco would have been cool too.”

9. Although Bennett wasn’t Aaron’s initial pick, the actor believes he landed the role due to his strong resemblance to Jimmy Fallon, who used to co-host Weekend Update with Fey. He explained to the Huffington Post in 2015, “She said that’s exactly 100 percent true.”

10. As Tina Fey told Entertainment Weekly in 2014, she preferred using actual names when writing the script, simply because it was more convenient. A good example of this is Glen Coco, a character mentioned but not prominently featured, who was named after a friend of her older brother.

He works as a film editor in Los Angeles, and I think it must be really frustrating for him,” she told the publication. “Someone actually mentioned that you can find a shirt at Target with the phrase ‘You go, Glen Coco!’ – I definitely didn’t see that coming.”

Were any other characters inspired by real people? Yes! Lizzy Caplan‘s character, Janis Ian, was based on the musician who was one of the very first musical performers on SNL. And Damian was named after Fey’s best friend from high school-who now writes for TV Guide-Damian Holbrook. As for Cady, she was named after Fey’s college roommate, Cady Garey.

11. In addition to writing the fantastic screenplay for the movie, Fey also played Ms. Norbury, the math teacher and Mathletes advisor, in Mean Girls. However, she didn’t understand any of the mathematical terms she wrote for her character to say; she was completely clueless about the math jargon!

I wanted to challenge the idea that girls aren’t good at math. I didn’t understand any of the math I was pretending to do, though,” she explained to the NYT in 2004, before sharing how she made the scenes believable. “I actually borrowed lesson plans from my friend’s boyfriend, who teaches calculus in the Bronx.”

12. Mean Girls takes its inspiration from Rosalind Wiseman‘s book about raising teenage girls, Queen Bees and Wannabees: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, and Other Realities of Adolescence. Because the book isn’t a story with characters and events to adapt, Tina Fey was able to use her own high school memories to build the movie’s plot, while still reflecting the ideas in Wiseman’s work.

The author continues to be pleased with how Fey adapted her work, with just one small exception. She explained to The Atlantic in 2014, “I’m not a fan of trust falls-I’ve never done them and I never will.” She recalls watching it initially and thinking, ‘Tina, I really don’t do that.‘”

13. Do you recall the scene with Amy Poehler’s character, Mrs. George, casually holding her dog while it unknowingly chewed on her breast implant? Here’s a look at how that memorable moment was filmed.

McAdams recounted to EW that a small piece of a hot dog was actually attached to the actress’s bra. He said he was worried the dog would really hurt her, but she handled it like a true professional. While she was delivering her lines, the dog was actively chewing on the prosthetic. He added that he’ll never forget the scene.

14. Franzese says the first draft of the script had a scene with Damian that didn’t make it to filming. He explained to Cosmo that the original ending revealed what happened to Damian after [junior year]. Damian was planning to try out for American Idol, and Simon Cowell was supposed to insult him by calling him chubby. Damian would then react by running onstage and punching him.

According to the actor in a magazine interview, the original ending went through many changes. One idea involved Ms. Norbury catching Kevin G selling ecstasy, which would then make sense when she herself is suspected of dealing drugs and drugs are found in her desk.

Janis and Damian tried to persuade Kevin G. to go with them to the school board meeting to explain what happened and admit it was his fault, but he didn’t show up, he explained. Instead, Damian took the stand and more or less improvised a story, claiming responsibility to shield Miss Norbury.

15. Tina Fey has often said she initially didn’t want to make a follow-up to her successful movie, something she now admits she regrets. She explained to EW magazine in 2014, “When the idea of a sequel first came up, I immediately thought, ‘No!!! We shouldn’t!'” She later reflected, “Looking back, I wonder why I felt so strongly against it. But at this point, it’s definitely too late to do anything about it.”

However, as she explained to Variety in 2018, she thought, “Perhaps this is a good thing, as it allows us to focus all our efforts here.”

This was the Mean Girls musical she created with her husband, Jeff Richmond, who also composed the music for 30 Rock. It first premiered in 2017 and then opened on Broadway in April 2018. That year, it received 12 Tony Award nominations and 9 Drama Desk Award nominations, winning Fey the award for Outstanding Book of a Musical from the latter. It also served as the basis for the 2024 Mean Girls musical.

Although a direct sequel to the original film was never created, a movie titled Mean Girls 2 was produced. This made-for-TV “sequel” aired on ABC Family (now Freeform) in 2011. It told a completely new story, only featuring Tim Meadows returning as the school principal from the first film. It wasn’t popular with audiences.

Then, in 2024, Mean Girls, a film based on the musical version, came out. Angourie Rice starred as Cady Heron, and Reneé Rapp returned to her role as Regina George, which she originally played on Broadway. The cast also included Bebe Wood as Gretchen, Avantika as Karen, Jaquel Spivey as Damian, Auli’i Cravalho as Janis, and Christopher Briney as Aaron.

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2025-10-03 13:19