14 fetching facts you didn't know about 2004's "Mean Girls"

Everyone knows "Mean Girls." You either have seen the movie or lived long enough to hear its jokes, use its gifs or recognize its most iconic talent show routine, the tantalizing "Jingle Bell Rock" number. Its raunchy, satirical take on the hierarchical structures that run rampant in high schools and the competitive nature of adolescent female friendships has cemented itself in the hall of fame of teen movies.

"Mean Girls" stars Lindsay Lohan as Cady Heron, a newcomer to North Shore High School the Plastics rule as the most popular clique on campus. Cady befriends two fellow outcasts who encourage her to infiltrate the Plastics, which consists of queen bee Regina George (Rachel McAdams), the some dim Karem Smith (Amanda Seyfried) and try-hard Gretchen Wieners (Lacey Chabert). But what starts as a way to ruin Regina ends up blowing in Cady's face when she starts to take on some of the more superficial and manipulative Plastics traits.

"Mean Girls" cast: Checking in on the Plastics nearly 20 years later

The 2004 Tina Fey cult classic hits its 20 anniversary this year, not to mention that its Broadway remake also hits the big screen. To honor this milestone, we looked back at the iconic film that made "fetch" happen.

Tina Fey wrote the screenplay after the parenting book "Queen Bees and Wannabes"

The early '00s were hell for teen girls. With stories of girl-on-girl bullying, cliques and gossiping running rampant in teen girls, Rosalind Wiseman wrote the book "Queen Bees and Wannabes" to shed light on what their kids faced in school. The book was aimed to help parents navigate the ruthless world of teenage girldom.

In the book, Wiseman writes that "Girl World," girl-led cliques run the world — I mean high schools. There’s the queen bee, the sidekick, the banker (the gossip keeper), the wannabe, the torn bystander. These roles work in tandem with each other that allows the group to move in a predatory pack to isolate and bully other girls. Do these roles sound familiar? The Plastics are shaking.

"This was something I feel that I could write about,” Fey told the website Blackfilm in 2004, about her inspiration for her film. “And because it was about girls. And it was nasty and violent. And that appealed to me,” she added. Thus, "Mean Girls" was born.

Lindsay Lohan was almost cast as Regina George

Now all that was left was figuring out who to cast Who else better to star in the film than the pinnacle of early '00s teen girl representation, Lindsay Lohan?

Director Mark Waters shared with Vulture, that Lohan originally auditioned for Regina, not Cady. He added that Lohan had the right "aggressive, testosterone-laden energy" to be the vengeful blonde, but they had difficulties finding someone who could face off with her as Cady. But then in 2003, Disney's "Freaky Friday" remake — also directed by Mark Waters – was released and changed Lohan's public perception to be more wholesome.

Waters said the former CEO of Paramount Sherry Lansing told him, Lohan, as Regina, it wasn't going to work "because she now has an audience that won't accept [her as a villain]."

Rachel McAdams auditioned for Cady

Not only did Lohan audition for Regina but Rachel McAdams auditioned for Cady too. Waters said that he thought McAdams had movie star potential but told her, "You’re way too old for this character. You just aren’t going to be able to play the ingenue." McAdams was 24 at the time.

But McAdams instead read for Regina, and it was the perfect match. “When Lindsay was acting with Rachel, she got very shy, because Rachel was older and a very accomplished actress,” said Waters. McAdams snagged the role as Regina because she intimidated the 18-year-old Lohan, and the dynamic shows in the movie.

McAdams was up against Amanda Seyfried for Regina

The role of Regina was a toss-up between the actresses McAdams and Amanda Seyfried.

“The person who was neck and neck for the role of Regina — and we agonized over which one we were going to cast — was Amanda Seyfried,” said Waters. “She tested for Regina and was kind of brilliant, and very different than Rachel’s approach. She played it in a much more ethereal but still kind of scary way. She was more frightening, but oddly, less intimidating.”

But Seyfried got lucky and read for the happy, self-described psychic Karen. Waters said "And I think it was [producer] Lorne Michaels who had the genius idea of saying, 'What about the dumb girl? I think Amanda could play the dumb girl.' So she came in and read it and nailed it, and we got the best of both worlds.”

Blake Lively ("Gossip Girl") and Ashley Tisdale ("High School Musical") also auditioned to play the Plastics at that time, but didn't land the roles.

James Franco was almost hottie Aaron Samuels

Before Jonathan Bennett was cast as the hottest boy in school, Aaron Samuels, the now elusive and canceled actor James Franco was considered for the role, Damien's actor Daniel Franzese told Grazia in 2014. Franco was well known at the time for his roles as Harry Osborn in Sam Raimi’s "Spider-Man" movies and the cult classic high school series "Freaks and Geeks."

Jonathan Bennett was a replacement Aaron Samuels

Let's face it, every one of us used to have a major crush on Aaron Samuels and that's thanks to Jonathan Bennett. But Bennett was a last-minute Aaron replacement. Tina Fey revealed that the actor originally cast as Aaron was fired from the movie two days into production.

“I was actually cast last minute,” said Bennett. “I was flown up the night before because they did a switch or something. . ." “Yeah,” Fey said. “Someone got fired.”

After 20 years, the mystery actor's name has still not been revealed. Fey also said Bennett snagged the role because of his similar looks to her friend Jimmy Fallon.

Tim Meadows broke his hand while shooting the movie

The ever-stressed and pressed Principal Duvall is known for his iconic white arm cast which is due to the character's carpal tunnel. It's random, gimmicky and perfect for the absurdity of "Means Girls." But "Saturday Night Live" veteran and actor Tim Meadows actually broke his wrist a week before production for the film began. The gag was not in the original script but Fey used the carpal tunnel bit as cover.

Amy Poehler crafted the Kevin G rap performance

Fey's bestie Amy Poehler, who plays Regina's overbearing cool stage mom, actually helped craft the nerdy but suave mathlete Kevin Gnapoor's (Rajiv Surendra) talent show rap. His outrageous rap goes, "Yo, yo, yo!/All you sucka MC's ain't got nothin' on me/From my grades, to my lines, you can't touch Kevin G."

“She’ll actually give credit to Amy for this, because Amy is more of the rap person,” said Waters. “Amy definitely coached him on how to do the rap, and she actually gave him some of the moves and choreography for it.

"The character’s great, because a small guy acting big is always funny,” Waters said.

Janis was literally named after the 1970s singer Janis Ian

Lizzy Caplan's terrifying and vengeful mastermind behind the plot to infiltrate the Plastics through Cady is the perfect supporting character. Not only is she a memorable part of the movie for her line humbling the now villainous Cady, "You're cold, shiny, hard plastic!" Janis was also named after the famous 1970s singer Janis Ian. The musician's song "At Seventeen" was also played in the movie when Regina is crying about being “half a virgin.”

"Mean Girls" was about to be a rated R movie

While "Mean Girls" eventually was rated PG-13 for its “sexual content, language, and some teen partying,” that was a rating Paramount had to fight for because the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) wanted to give the movie an R rating.

The creative team behind the movie had to change the line, "Amber D’Alessio gave a blow job to a hot dog," to become the less provocative, "Amber D’Alessio made out with a hot dog," Waters said. But there were some lines the team refused to compromise on a joke about a wide-set vagina.

"We told them, ‘You’re only saying this because it’s a girl, and she’s talking about a part of her anatomy. There’s no sexual context whatsoever, and to say this is restrictive to an audience of girls is demeaning to all women.’ And they eventually had to back down,” Waters said.

The movie was nominated for MTV Movie Awards and Teen Choice Awards

When the film came out in 2004, it made $130 million at the box office, and rocketing the cast and crew into newfound heights of success.

It did so well with teen audiences that it was nominated for the Teen Choice Awards, MTV Movie Awards, Kid's Choice Awards and the People's Choice Awards. Lohan won three Teen Choice Awards surfboards, and the ensemble, Lohan and McAdams all won MTV Movie Awards.

Jonathan Bennett wrote a "Mean Girls"-inspired cookbook

If you wanna cook like a mean girl, you should get Jonathan Bennett's "The Burn Cookbook: An Unofficial Unauthorized Cookbook for Mean Girls Fans." The cookbook details tasty parody recipes from the movie with plenty of behind-the-scenes stories from Aaron Samuels himself. The book is said to be packed with "creations like Fetch-uccine Alfredo, You Go, Glenn (Hot) Cocoa, and Just Stab Caesar Salad." The book's forward is also written by the fetch queen herself, Gretchen Weiners aka Lacey Chabert.

The Broadway musical adaption starring Renee Rapp rocked the theater community

"Mean Girls" will always be fetch — no matter how much time has passed, and the Broadway musical adaption that debuted in 2018 proves exactly that. The musical was written by Fey, music by Jeff Richmond, and lyrics by Nell Benjamin, and was nominated for 12 Tonys in 2018. Its popularity has now been translated into a film adaption of the musical which will have its theatrical release on Jan. 12. The new version of "Mean Girls," starring up Reneé Rapp, reprising her role as Regina George from Broadway, will be brought to a new generation, waiting to relish in the pure evil brilliance of now-singing teenage girl rivals.

The OG "Mean Girls" appeared in a Black Friday commercial together

For anyone craving, more "Mean Girls" nostalgia — Lohan, Seyfried, Chabert, Franzese and Surendra came together to reprise their roles to film a "Mean Girls"-inspired Black Friday commercial.

The commercial used some of the movie's iconic lines: "Some things never change. On Wednesdays we wear pink, but now we shop Walmart Black Friday deals," Cady says as Gretchen pulls up in a convertible filled with Walmart shopping bags.

But one head Plastic in charge is missing: Regina George. When asked why McAdams said even though she would've loved to be reunited with her Plastics, “I don’t know; I guess I wasn’t that excited about doing a commercial if I’m being totally honest. A movie sounded awesome, but I’ve never done commercials, and it just didn’t feel like my bag. . ."

about "Mean Girls"

14 fetching facts you didn't know about 2004's "Mean Girls"

It took a lot to make fetch happen, like having Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams audition for each other's roles

By Nardos Haile

Published January 5, 2024 10:15AM (EST)

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By Nardos Haile

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