The original Mean Girls has remained a vital part of pop culture in the decades since its release, and is widely considered one of the best teen movies ever. North Shore High School is back in theaters with the new musical Mean Girls movie, which has spent weeks at #1 for the box office. Tina Fey reprise her role as Ms. Norbury on top of writing the screenplay, and spoke to CinemaBlend about the scene that gave her deja vu, being quoted saying "this is a little weird."
A big reason why Mean Girls is such a successful property is because of the hilarious writing by Tina Fey. CinemaBlend's Mean Girls review was overwhelmingly positive, thanks to the new movie's mixture of new and old. As you can see in the video above, I had the privilege of speaking with Fey before the movie's release, where she shared what it was like becoming Ms. Norbury again. As she told me:
It was fun. And I definitely could not have gotten through it without Tim Meadows.... But the day that we shot the scene in the gym where I'm sort of lecturing the girls that was the one day where I was like 'Okay, this is a little weird. I feel like I'm having a deja vu moment standing here in almost the exact same outfit.'
I mean, can you blame her? Fey and Meadows were the only actors from the original Mean Girls cast who reprised their roles on the new movie musical. And for Tina Fey, that meant basically wearing the same costume and even delivering some of the same lines. Deja vu is certainly understandable.
The new Mean Girls cast crushed it, but longtime fans were pleased to see some familiar faces in the movie. Tina Fey shared how important it was to bring surprises for the hardcore fans, including the revelation that Ms. Norbury and Principal Duvall were a couple this time around. And having Meadows on set with her helped the actress/screenwriter return to her signature role.
While the OG Mean Girls is endlessly quotable, the new movie made some notable changed to that beloved movie. Obviously the biggest change is the addition of musical numbers, as the new Mean Girls in adaptation of the Tony-nominated Broadway musical of the same name. Tina Fey didn't belt anything out through the movie's runtime, but she wrote the lyrics, having collaborated with husband Jeff Richmond on the score for the stage play.
The new Mean Girls is still in theaters now, and making great money at the box office. Check out the 2024 movie release dates to plan your next moviegoing experience. Let's just hope the rest of this year's movies are as fetch and grool as this one.
