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.
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.
01 Tina Fey wrote the screenplay after the parenting book "Queen Bees and Wannabes"
02 Lindsay Lohan was almost cast as Regina George
03 Rachel McAdams auditioned for Cady
04 McAdams was up against Amanda Seyfried for Regina
05 James Franco was almost hottie Aaron Samuels
06 Jonathan Bennett was a replacement Aaron Samuels
“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.
07 Tim Meadows broke his hand while shooting the movie
08 Amy Poehler crafted the Kevin G rap performance
09 Janis was literally named after the 1970s singer Janis Ian
10 "Mean Girls" was about to be a rated R movie
11 The movie was nominated for MTV Movie Awards and Teen Choice Awards
12 Jonathan Bennett wrote a "Mean Girls"-inspired cookbook
13 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.
14 The OG "Mean Girls" appeared in a Black Friday commercial together
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. . ."