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<ul class="summary-list"><li>"<keyword id="33565" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="Mean-Girls">Mean Girls</keyword>" star <keyword id="2049853" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Daniel-Franzese">Daniel Franzese</keyword> told Insider about how his character ended up singing "Beautiful."</li><li>The <keyword id="32482" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Christina-Aguilera">Christina Aguilera</keyword> track almost didn't make it into Damian's winter talent show performance. </li><li>"Linda Perry, the writer of the song, agreed to let me sing it because she's queer," Franzese said.</li></ul><p>"<a href="https://www.insider.com/category/mean-girls">Mean Girls</a>" star <a href="https://www.insider.com/category/daniel-franzese">Daniel Franzese</a> revealed that he almost didn't end up singing <a href="https://www.insider.com/category/christina-aguilera">Christina Aguilera</a>'s Grammy-winning track "Beautiful" but the songwriter, Linda Perry, agreed because his character was gay. </p><p>"They almost weren't going to let me sing it," Franzese, who starred as Damian, told <a href="https://www.insider.com/">Insider</a> during <a href="https://www.insider.com/mean-girls-daniel-franzese-damian-interview-film-secrets-2021-4">an interview for the hit film's 17th anniversary</a>. "They weren't going to give us a release for the song."</p><p>Damian, who had some of the 2004 <keyword id="6356021" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="movie">movie</keyword>'s most iconic lines, performed "Beautiful" during North Shore High School's winter talent show. Franzese said that at the time of production, there were a few backup song choices in case they weren't given the rights to use Aguilera's track. </p><p>"They had a whole list of other songs for me to choose from, in which I chose either 'Out Here on My Own,' the Irene Cara song from 'Fame,' or I was going to sing 'One Moment in Time' by<a href="https://www.insider.com/category/whitney-houston"> Whitney Houston,</a>" Franzese said. </p><p>"But because my character was gay, Linda Perry, the writer of the song, agreed to let me sing it because she's queer," he said.</p><div type="image" title="Daniel Franzese in &quot;Mean Girls.&quot; 3" height="1610" width="2147" msid="82379054" hostid="261"></div><p>The 42-year-old actor said that getting to film the musical moment was his "favorite day" because his mom flew in from Florida.</p><p>She and <a href="https://www.insider.com/category/lizzy-caplan">Lizzy Caplan</a>, who played Damian's best friend named Janis, "stayed up all night and made pepperoni Stromboli bread for the whole cast and crew."</p><p>But Franzese's mom ended up being the only person in the audience during the first day of shooting because, unbeknownst to them, filming was split into two days: one focused on Damian performing on stage and another day dedicated to filming the audience's reaction. </p><div type="image" title="mean girls damian winter talent show " height="1611" width="2148" msid="82379056" hostid="261"></div><p>Franzese said the script for "Mean Girls" was already filled with so much humor, but he suggested a few lines throughout.</p><p>One was Damian telling Ms. Norbury (<a href="https://www.insider.com/category/tina-fey">Tina Fey</a>) "don't look at me" as she played the piano during his rendition of "Beautiful." The line was inspired by Aguilera saying the same phrase on the recording of the track.</p><p>Elsewhere in the film, Franzese suggested other ideas to incorporate into his character. </p><p>He came up with Damian's line, "I want my pink shirt back," which was a callback to Damian lending Cady Heron (<a href="https://www.insider.com/category/lindsay-lohan">Lindsay Lohan</a>) a pink polo so she could match with the Plastics.</p><p>Franzese originally wanted to say, "I want my pink shirt back, b----." But to avoid the expletive and preserve the comedic tone, director Mark Waters suggested the actor say it twice like George Costanza from "Seinfeld" in an angry tone. </p><p>"After a while, they started trusting me," Franzese said. "Now everybody uses digital, but when you're using film and it's a studio film back in the day, every minute costs so much money. So it was really awesome for them to give you that kind of freedom."</p>

Christina Aguilera's 'Beautiful' only made it into 'Mean Girls' because the songwriter liked that Damian was gay

<ul class="summary-list"><li>"<keyword id="33565" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="Mean-Girls">Mean Girls</keyword>" star <keyword id="2049853" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Daniel-Franzese">Daniel Franzese</keyword> (Damian) spoke to Insider about his friendship with <keyword id="1836470" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Ariana-Grande">Ariana Grande</keyword>.</li><li>The actor said that he wanted to buy merch from her line, but his size wasn't available.</li><li>Grande then expanded her merch to 3XL to accommodate Franzese as well as all her other fans.</li></ul><p>"<a href="https://www.insider.com/category/mean-girls">Mean Girls</a>" star <a href="https://www.insider.com/category/daniel-franzese">Daniel Franzese</a> says that <a href="https://www.insider.com/category/ariana-grande">Ariana Grande</a> made her merchandise line more inclusive after he told her that his size wasn't available.</p><p>Franzese opened up about his friendship with the pop star in <a href="https://www.insider.com/mean-girls-daniel-franzese-damian-interview-film-secrets-2021-4">an interview with Insider for the 17th anniversary of "Mean Girls,"</a> the film that also inspired Grande's <a href="https://www.insider.com/ariana-grande-thank-u-next-music-video-2018-11">"Thank U, Next" music video</a>.</p><p>The actor said that they had been mutual friends via Instagram years prior to Grande's global stardom thanks to his role as Damian in "Mean Girls" and she made an adjustment to her merch after a conversation with him. </p><p>In 2018, Grande released merchandise in support of her track "No Tears Left to Cry" from her album "Sweetener." She sent sweaters to influences and Franzese didn't get one, but he decided to buy one himself "because she's so supportive of me."</p><p>They didn't carry his size, so he mentioned it the next time they spoke. Franzese said that she immediately asked for his size so she could get him a sweater, then went a step further and expanded all her merch to 3XL to accommodate more fans.  </p><p>"She sent me two gigantic moving boxes, huge boxes filled with all of her merch in 3XL and then everything else in all other sizes," Franzese said of Grande, who also gave him and his nieces front-row tickets to see her in concert in Miami. </p><p>"I just love her," Franzese said. "She's so cool."</p><div type="image" title="FILE - In this Dec. 6, 2018 file photo, Ariana Grande attends the 13th annual Billboard Women in Music event in New York. Grammys producer Ken Ehrlich says the show had multiple conversations with Grande about performing at the awards show on Sunday but the singer “felt it was too late for her to pull something together.” (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)" height="964" width="1285" msid="82387816" hostid="261"></div><p>Franzese also told Insider that when Grande came up with the concept for her "TUN" video, she asked him to take part in it.</p><p>But the filming date kept shifting and eventually, the shoot date conflicted with the early dates of his comedy tour. He wanted to be part of the video but had already committed to his tour, so he asked Grande for a rain check.</p><p>Franzese said that he "loved" the music video, which included "Mean Girls" star Jonathan Bennett reprising his role as Aaron Samuels.</p><p>The actor also said that he isn't sure what his part in the video would have involved, but it might have shown him wearing the hoodie and sunglasses from his iconic "she doesn't even go here" moment in the auditorium. </p><div type="image" title="Daniel Franzese in &quot;Mean Girls.&quot; 4" height="1617" width="2157" msid="82387819" hostid="261"></div><p>"It would have been fun to be a part of, yes," Franzese said. "But I also feel like there's so much want for me to reprise that character, that if I was going to do it, it would have to be on-screen. It would have to be something big."</p><p>The actor said that if he were to portray Damian again, he'd want to move the character's story forward in some significant way. </p><p>"There's a danger," he said. "That character really is part of my identity. Everybody knows me for it. So, I have to be careful with that, too. I don't want to name anybody, but I've seen other actors from other movies repeat their character in places and it kind of hurt them. There's just something about it that's so sacred."</p>

Ariana Grande made her merch line more inclusive after 'Mean Girls' star Daniel Franzese told her his size wasn't available

<p class="drop-cap">In discussions about the definitive high-school movies of the 2000s, "<a href="https://www.insider.com/category/mean-girls">Mean Girls</a>" reigns supreme.</p><p>No other teen film is packed with so many quotable lines that people still reference almost two decades later: "She doesn't even go here;" "'You can't sit with us;" "Get in loser, we're going shopping" - to name a few. It's a film so prevalent in pop culture that it even has its own day (It's October 3rd).</p><p>"<keyword id="33565" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="Mean-Girls">Mean Girls</keyword>," written by <a href="https://www.insider.com/category/tina-fey">Tina Fey</a>, is centered on a naive 16-year-old named Cady Heron (<a href="https://www.insider.com/category/lindsay-lohan">Lindsay Lohan</a>), who learned new rules about the girl world when she enrolled at North Shore, a fictional high school in Evanston, Illinois, after being home-schooled her whole life.</p><p>On her first day, Cady befriended two outcasts named Janis (<a href="https://www.insider.com/category/lizzy-caplan">Lizzy Caplan</a>) and Damian (<a href="https://www.insider.com/category/daniel-franzese">Daniel Franzese</a>) and caught the attention of the popular girls, known as the Plastics, led by queen bee Regina George (<a href="https://www.insider.com/category/rachel-mcadams">Rachel McAdams</a>).</p><p>The film, inspired by Fey's high-school experience and a parenting book about helping teens survive cliques, could not have been better cast. But at the time, McAdams and Lohan seemed like odd picks to play, well, mean girls.</p><p>"We didn't know if the <keyword id="6356021" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="movie">movie</keyword> was going to be good when we were making it," Franzese said. "'We were like, 'Are we making a cute movie or is this as bad-ass as we think?' We couldn't really figure it out."</p><p>In honor of the 17th anniversary of "Mean Girls," <a href="https://www.insider.com/">Insider</a> spoke with Franzese about his experience making the movie, why he leans into its popularity, and how the film was ahead of its time.</p><div type="image" title="Lacey Chabert, Rachel McAdams, Lindsay Lohan, and Amanda Seyfried in &quot;Mean Girls.&quot;" height="1610" width="2150" msid="82332379" hostid="261"></div><h2>Franzese said he nearly wasn't cast in the role as Damian and Jonathan Bennett wasn't originally cast to portray heartthrob Aaron Samuels</h2><p class="drop-cap">No one could have predicted the cultural impact of "Mean Girls" when it was released, but Franzese had a good feeling about the movie before he even landed his role. </p><p>During second-round auditions with Fey and director Mark Waters, <a href="https://www.insider.com/category/amanda-seyfried">Amanda Seyfried</a>, who was having a callback for Regina, asked Fey to weigh in on which color shirt to wear for her screen test: maroon or tan.</p><p>Overhearing the conversation, Franzese leaned over and said, "I'd go with the Merlot."</p><p>The quip may have counted more than his actual audition, which Franzese said "was OK," but "wasn't good." Luckily, Fey and the others in the room seemed to like the actor.</p><div type="image" title="Lindsay Lohan, Lizzy Caplan, and Daniel Franzese in &quot;Mean Girls.&quot;" height="1611" width="2148" msid="82332381" hostid="261"></div>"They thought that me as a person was right for Damian, which is funny because I was going in and acting more like a character than myself, I thought," he said. <p>So despite a seemingly mediocre audition, Franzese was invited out to Los Angeles to have dinner with the cast and participate in the table read - but he still didn't have the part yet. The cast dinner was a mix of "so many personalities at the table," he said, with everyone trying to make an impression.</p><p>While a teenage Lohan was "gossiping about <a href="https://www.insider.com/category/hilary-duff">Hilary Duff</a> or whatever," Franzese said he was doing the most to bond with Caplan because casting director Marci Liroff was convinced that they'd become fast friends. At the table, there was also an actor who wasn't <a href="https://www.insider.com/category/jonathan-bennett">Jonathan Bennett,</a> tapped to portray heartthrob Aaron Samuels.</p><p>Franzese said that he's taking the identity of the actor to his grave. </p><p>"I'll never say," he said. "We've all collectively agreed that's the one thing we'll never tell because we don't want to shame the actor. There'll be a hundred articles about him and he's a good actor."</p><p>"You would know him though."</p><div type="image" title="Jonathan Bennett in &quot;Mean Girls.&quot; 2" height="1610" width="2150" msid="82332382" hostid="261"></div><p>Still, Franzese took comfort in seeing Lacey Chabert, who nabbed the role of gossiping Plastics member Gretchen Wieners with her big hair "full of secrets." The two had previously appeared in the 2002 movie "Hometown Legend."</p><p>The next day, Franzese, McAdams, and Seyfried were transported in a limo to the table read at the Paramount Picture's studio lot. He described the day as "really intense" because of the number of people there, including studio executives and A-listers who were called in as favors "to make the table really good."</p><p>"I've been to many table reads and I always feel like the best movies have the best table reads," Franzese said. "Whenever a movie didn't have a table read or the table read was meek, there were problems on set."</p><p>"This table read was fire. Everybody was shooting bull's-eyes and I was trying so hard to land every joke," the actor continued. "I was ready four lines before my lines to just land a joke."</p><p>Franzese's eagerness paid off: He made producer and "<a href="https://www.insider.com/category/saturday-night-live">Saturday Night Live</a>" creator and "Mean Girls" producer Lorne Michaels do a spit take while delivering one of his one-liners.</p><div type="image" title="Daniel Franzese in &quot;Mean Girls.&quot; 4" height="1617" width="2157" msid="82332384" hostid="261"></div><p>But sitting next to Franzese was the original Aaron Samuels actor, who was failing to impress because of his nonchalant disposition. </p><p>"He had a baseball hat on and a scruffy beard and a Starbucks, like acting all Hollywood," Franzese said, explaining that the casting director and others kept suggesting that he take off his hat, which he refused to do. </p><p>So while Franzese was ready to deliver lines and react to the dialogue from other characters, "dude next to me was just acting too cool for school."</p><p>About a week and a half later, Franzese was told he got the part and would leave for Toronto two days later to film.</p><p>Meanwhile, the unnamed Aaron Samuels actor was fired and Bennett stepped in to take over. Franzese learned of the casting change when Bennett showed up at the airport.</p><p>"Heads roll every production, so it wasn't a huge surprise," Franzese said. </p><h2>Franzese said he came up with Damian's most iconic lines, including "I want my pink shirt back!"</h2><p class="drop-cap">Franzese has fond memories of filming in Toronto - from getting iPods to "backpacks full of all kinds of swag" inspired by the film.</p><p>"They made protein bars with the Kälteen Bars covers. They just made it really cute," he added.</p><p>The "friendly" cast members stayed at spacious apartments and bonded by seeing Radiohead together. Franzese even visited Niagara Falls with Caplan and Bennett upon arriving.</p><p>Aside from Lohan, who rose to fame as a child actor playing twins in the 1998 movie "<a href="https://www.insider.com/the-parent-trap-cast-where-are-they-now-photos-2018-7">The Parent Trap</a>," most of the actors portraying teens weren't well-known. For Seyfried, who's now an <a href="https://www.insider.com/oscars-2021-nominations-winners-list-2021-3">Oscar-nominated actress</a>, her role as ditsy Karen Smith marked her film debut. </p><div type="image" title="Lindsay Lohan, Amanda Seyfried, Lacey Chabert, and Rachel McAdams in &quot;Mean Girls.&quot;" height="1611" width="2148" msid="82332385" hostid="261"></div><p>Conversely, many of the actors playing adult roles were "SNL" veterans: Fey (math teacher Ms. Norbury), Ana Gasteyer (Cady's mom), <a href="https://www.insider.com/category/amy-poehler">Amy Poehler</a> (Regina's "cool mom"), and Tim Meadows (Principal Duvall). </p><p>"I remember Tina didn't fly," Franzese recalled of the rehearsal period. "So, she drove up in a limo every Monday or something from New York. And meanwhile, Ana Gasteyer and <keyword id="583508" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Amy-Poehler">Amy Poehler</keyword> were flying in on Lorne's jet after every 'SNL' on Mondays."</p><p>It was during rehearsals that Franzese came up with one of Damian's most iconic lines: "I want my pink shirt back!" He yells the remark while driving past Cady outside her house party where he wasn't invited.</p><p>Originally, he wanted to end the line with "b----," but Waters suggested saying it twice like George Costanza from "Seinfeld" in an angry tone in order to avoid the expletive. </p><p>"After a while, they started trusting me and giving me freedom," Franzese said, explaining that it meant a lot because on "a studio film back in the day, every minute costs so much money."</p><div type="image" title="Lizzy Caplan and Daniel Franzese in &quot;Mean Girls.&quot; 4" height="1617" width="2157" msid="82332387" hostid="261"></div><p>While there wasn't much room for improvisation because the script was already so funny, Franzese also snuck in the "don't look at me" remark during Damian's performance of <a href="https://www.insider.com/category/christina-aguilera">Christina Aguilera</a>'s "Beautiful" at the winter talent show. The line, which he says to Ms. Norbury as she plays piano, was inspired by Aguilera saying the same phrase on the track recording.</p><p>The scene clearly benefited from Franzese's creativity, but it also wouldn't have been as funny if his character had performed another song, which could've happened.</p><p>"They weren't going to give us a release for the song," the actor said. "So they had a whole list of other songs for me to choose from, in which I chose either 'Out Here on My Own,' the Irene Cara song from 'Fame,' or I was going to sing 'One Moment in Time' by <a href="https://www.insider.com/category/whitney-houston">Whitney Houston</a>."</p><p>"But because my character was gay, Linda Perry, the writer of the song, agreed to let me sing it because she's queer."</p><div type="image" title="Daniel Franzese in &quot;Mean Girls.&quot; 2" height="1616" width="2154" msid="82332388" hostid="261"></div><h2>Damian was a boundary-pushing character for the LGBTQ+ community, and made Franzese more comfortable to be openly queer</h2><p class="drop-cap">Franzese, who <a href="https://www.indiewire.com/2014/04/exclusive-actor-daniel-franzese-writes-a-touching-coming-out-letter-to-his-iconic-mean-girls-character-damian-214326/">came out as gay in 2014</a> around the time of the movie's 10th anniversary, said he was initially "afraid" to play an openly queer character like Damian. But the character was "remarkable" for the early 2000s. </p><p>"I was like, 'Wait a minute. He's funny, and he's a lead role, and he says all the best s---, and no one ever beats him up, and he doesn't have AIDS,'" Franzese said. </p><p>"It felt really forward-thinking for that time," he added. "I was really excited to do something that pushed the envelope, regardless of my own fear about how I felt. I was like, 'One day I'm going to be out and then they're going to look back and say, 'Look at how he played this awesome role that kind of pushed s---.'"</p><div type="image" title="Lizzy Caplan and Daniel Franzese in &quot;Mean Girls.&quot; 6" height="1610" width="2146" msid="82332389" hostid="261"></div><p>The first time Franzese realized the true impact of a character like Damian was when he filmed the movie "Kill Theory" in New Orleans in 2008. During his downtime, he went to a gay club called Oz New Orleans on the famous Bourbon Street.</p><p>"I was kind of sneaking away from my current cast because I didn't want them to know I was gay," Franzese said, adding, "And the bouncer started crying when he saw me. He was just like, 'You don't know what it meant as a big person.'"</p><p>Franzese would go onto truly grasp the full impact of Damian on the LGBTQ+ community when he received a letter from a fan around the 10th anniversary.</p><p>The letter began: "I don't know if you're gay or not. It doesn't matter. But when I was in eighth grade, I was beat up for being chubby and tortured for being a sissy. And then your movie came out and in ninth grade, on the first day of my freshman year, the popular senior girls were like, 'You're like Damian, come sit with us.'"</p><div type="image" title="Daniel Franzese in &quot;Mean Girls.&quot; 3" height="1617" width="2157" msid="82332390" hostid="261"></div><p>Reading the opening lines caused Franzese to re-evaluate how he was living his life.</p><p>Although he wasn't openly gay in Hollywood, he publicly supported marriage equality and participated in protests regarding California's Prop 8 (a ban on same-sex marriage that was passed in 2008, but overturned and ruled unconstitutional in 2010).</p><p>The actor said that letter was "so impactful" because growing up as a pop-culture fan and cinephile, he didn't see himself "represented in a positive light on-screen."</p><p>"I can't find another chubby gay teen that is so significant in cinema history before that," Franzese said of his "Mean Girls" character. "It was like, 'Oh my God, I played this thing that was a breakthrough.' I didn't even realize it as it was happening. I was just being me."</p><h2>'Anything that anyone ever made fun of me for in my life is a reason that I'm celebrated and paid now.'</h2><p class="drop-cap">More than a decade later, "Mean Girls" is still "fetch," as Gretchen would say. </p><p>"It was always a cool movie, but then you realize it's a classic after 10 years," Franzese said.</p><p>"Mean Girls" became such a hit that it spawned a (mostly forgotten) 2011 TV sequel, inspired a Broadway show, and sparked an upcoming film adaptation of the aforementioned musical. </p><p>The musical, written by Fey with music composed by her husband, Jeff Richmond, transformed the character of Damian into "a fully realized queer teen of today," which Franzese said probably "couldn't have been then." Grey Henson, who portrayed Damian on Broadway, even received a Tony nomination for best featured actor in a musical.</p><p>"Damian didn't even get a GLAAD award," Franzese said. "Look at how far we've come with this source material."</p><div type="image" title="Rachel McAdams, Lacey Chabert, and Amanda Seyfried in &quot;Mean Girls.&quot; 2" height="1620" width="2878" msid="82332391" hostid="261"></div><p>As for people watching "Mean Girls" nowadays, Franzese hopes the main takeaway is "to be kind to one another."</p><p>"The one thing I love to say the most is: Anything that anyone ever made fun of me for in my life is a reason that I'm celebrated and paid now," he said.</p><p>"And the things that set you apart are really the things that make you get noticed."</p>

'Mean Girls' star Daniel Franzese reveals Tina Fey drove nearly 500 miles to the film's Toronto set because she 'didn't fly' and other secrets from the teen movie

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The trailer for the 2024 "Mean Girls" remake was released in November.</li><li>Some of the cast members from the 2004 film will reprise their roles.</li></ul><p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/mean-girls-day-october-3-fullmetal-alchemist-2023-10">October 3</a> has come and gone, but we don't have to wait a whole year for another reason to celebrate "Mean Girls."</p><p>Paramount released the trailer for the upcoming film on Wednesday. Here's everything we know about the return of Cady Heron and the Plastics.</p><h2>When will the new 'Mean Girls' movie be released?</h2><p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/mean-girls-cool-details-you-never-got">"Mean Girls"</a> the movie musical will be released in theaters on January 12, 2024. The film was originally slated to be released on Paramount+ before moving to a theatrical release, according to <a target="_blank" href="https://deadline.com/2023/09/mean-girls-theatrical-release-date-1235553986/">Deadline</a>.</p><h2>Who's in the cast of the new 'Mean Girls' film?</h2><div type="image" title="Jaquel Spivey,  Angourie Rice, and Auli'i Cravalho in the &quot;Mean Girls&quot; movie musical." height="1572" width="2096" msid="105107215" hostid="261"></div><p>The main cast of "Mean Girls" was first <a target="_blank" href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/mean-girls-movie-musical-sets-cast-1235278432/">announced</a> in December 2022.</p><p>The role of Cady Heron (originated by Lindsay Lohan in the first movie) will be played by <a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/mare-of-easttown-director-craig-zobel-flattered-by-snl-spoof-2021-5">"Mare of Eastown" star Angourie Rice</a>. Meanwhile, her frenemy and head of The Plastics clique Regina George will be played by <a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/the-sex-lives-of-college-girls-real-ages-versus-characters-2022-11">"The Sex Lives of College Girls"</a> star Reneé Rapp. Rapp also played Regina in the stage version of "Mean Girls," while Rachel McAdams originated the role of Regina in the 2004 film.</p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/aulii-cravalho-red-carpet-statement-missing-indigenous-women-2023-3">Auli'i Cravalho</a>, the voice of the title character in Disney's 2016 film "Moana," will play the role of Janis I'mi'ike. Lizzy Caplan originated the same character, named Janis Ian in the 2004 movie.</p><div type="image" title="Bebe Wood, Renée Rapp, and Avantinka in &quot;Mean Girls.&quot;" height="3016" width="4021" msid="105107216" hostid="261"></div><p>Newcomer Jaquel Spivey will play Cady's friend Damien Hubbard (originally played by Daniel Franzese in the 2004 film) in the movie musical.</p><p>In February 2023, <a target="_blank" href="https://deadline.com/2023/02/mean-girls-the-musical-film-adds-avantika-christopher-briney-bebe-wood-1235253619/"><u>Deadline</u></a> announced additional cast members.</p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/the-summer-i-turned-pretty-ending-season-two-plot-summary-2023-7">"The Summer I Turned Pretty"</a> star Christopher Briney will play Cady's love interest, Aaron Samuels. Jonathan Bennett originated the role in the 2004 film.</p><p>Avantika, who previously starred in the Netflix film "Senior Year," will play the ditzy member of the Plastics clique, Karen. The role was originated by <a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/all-of-amanda-seyfrieds-movies-ranked-from-worst-to-best-2019-12">Amanda Seyfried</a>.</p><div type="image" title="Busy Philipps as Mrs. George in &quot;Mean Girls.&quot;" height="2153" width="2871" msid="105107217" hostid="261"></div><p>The final member of the Plastics clique, Gretchen Wieners, will be played by "Love, Victor" star Bebe Wood. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/lacey-chabert-proud-hallmark-more-diversity-2021-12">Lacey Chabert</a> originated the role.</p><p>"The Office" star Jenna Fischer will play Cady's mom, a role originated by Ana Gasteyer in the original film. "Dawson's Creek" and "Girls5Eva" <a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/busy-philipps-criticism-chris-pratt-controversial-post-reduced-to-a-headline-2021-11">star Busy Philipps</a> will play Regina George's mother, Mrs. George, who was played by Amy Poehler previously.</p><h2>Will original cast members appear in the 'Mean Girls' movie?</h2><div type="image" title="Tina Fey in the new &quot;Mean Girls&quot; movie musical." height="2268" width="3292" msid="105107240" hostid="261"></div><p>Tina Fey, who wrote and starred in the original 2004 film, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sT7Nbf-Ub9I">announced</a> in February 2023 that both she and Tim Meadows would reprise their roles as math teacher Ms. Norbury and the North Shore High principal, Mr. Duvall, respectively. Press stills released by Paramount show the two as their iconic characters in the new film.</p><p>Any reports that Lohan or the original cast members who played The Plastics clique — McAdams, Seyfried, and Chabert — would reprise their roles are speculative as of this writing.</p><p>However, the actors clearly aren't opposed to returning to Girl World. Lohan, Chabert, and Seyfried filmed a Walmart+ commercial, released on November 1, that allowed them to reprise their roles as Cady, Gretchen, and Karen respectively.</p><p>In the commercial, Gretchen is a mom, Cady is the school guidance counselor, and Karen is a meteorologist.</p><p>Lohan shared it <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/lindsaylohan/status/1719716657424458159">on social media</a>, writing "Get in, besties. We're going shopping."</p> <p>McAdams didn't return as Regina George, but Franzese reprised his role as Damien and Missy Elliot also made a cameo.</p><p>On a hopeful note, Seyfried told <a target="_blank" href="https://www.etonline.com/amanda-seyfried-shares-her-idea-for-mean-girls-musical-cameo-exclusive-199837"><u>Entertainment Tonight</u></a> in February that she, Lohan, Chabert, and McAdams were "a hundred percent" open to being part of the new "Mean Girls" movie if they were asked.</p><p>At the time, she speculated that she and her former co-stars could play their characters' mothers in fun cameos, but said she hadn't seen the script yet.</p><p>Unless all of the new Plastics have more than one mom, this isn't likely to happen given the announced cast. But at least everyone appears open to a big-screen reunion.</p><h2>Is the plot of 'Mean Girls' staying the same?</h2><div type="image" title="mean girls movie" height="1334" width="1779" msid="105107241" hostid="261"></div><p>Fey, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/mean-girls-writer-calls-out-tina-fey-hypocrisy-supporting-women-2023-3">who wrote the 2004 "Mean Girls" script</a> and the book for the 2017 Broadway show, also wrote the 2024 movie musical. So, the essence of the story is likely to remain the same. This is supported by the fact that both the 2004 and 2024 films have the same log line: "Cady Heron is a hit with the Plastics, an A-list girl clique at her new school when she makes the mistake of falling for Aaron Samuels, the ex-boyfriend of alpha Plastic Regina George."</p><p>Of course, the musical has a lot more singing and dancing in it than the movie, which only had The Plastics' famous "Jingle Bell Rock" number.</p><div type="image" title="Tim Meadows in the new &quot;Mean Girls&quot; musical movie." height="2798" width="3730" msid="105107243" hostid="261"></div><p>Mark Waters, who directed Lohan in both <a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/freaky-friday-stars-where-are-they-now-photos-2021-8">2003's "Freaky Friday" </a>and the original "Mean Girls," will not be directing the movie musical. Married filmmakers Arturo Perez Jr. and Samantha Jayne are <a target="_blank" href="https://variety.com/2021/film/news/mean-girls-movie-musical-directors-arturo-perez-jr-samantha-jayne-1235070229/">directing</a> the new movie.</p><h2>Some fans seem a little skeptical about the 'Mean Girls' remake — or at least confused about the trailer's lack of musical numbers</h2><p>Although the 2024 "Mean Girls" film is a musical, that's not exactly made clear in the trailer, aside from a few seconds of dancing.</p><p>So, the movie is already receiving criticism from fans on social media, who are confused by the lack of songs.</p><p>"Why conceal that it's a musical? Is there anyone who wants to see a Mean Girls remake but who also hates musicals, is that a demographic? Also didn't we just have sort of a popular movie with a lot of pink and a song in it?" <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/macwrites/status/1722300522747629927"><u>one user wrote</u></a> on X, formally Twitter.</p> <p><a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/theJacko/status/1722278528748794288"><u>Another wrote </u></a>that the musical aspect of the film was hidden because there was "absolutely nothing memorable" about the songs in "Mean Girls: The Musical" on Broadway. The tweet describes the project as "basically a millennial nostalgic cash grab of a movie."</p> <p>But <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/DaricCott/status/1722280866930679988"><u>some people on X</u></a> liked the musical and defended it and the new film. "You can tell that a lot of y'all were completely unaware that the Mean Girls Broadway musical already existed and Reneé Rapp already plays Regina George in it," one user wrote, adding in their thread that people reacted the same way about the trailer for the upcoming film version of the upcoming Tony Award-winning musical "The Color Purple."</p>  <p>One <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/LackingDaisys17/status/1722279240186712427"><u>user was skeptical but hopeful, writing,</u></a> "This could be real bad but hopefully in a campy way?? I know the musical and am not a huge fan of the songs nor staged story structure, but maybe it will surprise me."</p><h2>Watch the 'Mean Girls' trailer here</h2>

Everything we know about the new 'Mean Girls' movie 

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://kissthemgoodbye.net/movie/displayimage.php?album=19&amp;pid=44849#top_display_media">Paramount Pictures</a></span></p><p class="caption">Gretchen, Karen, Regina, and Cady ruled the school in "Mean Girls," see what the actresses have been up to since.</p></div><p></p></div>This April marks a decade since The Plastics ruled the halls of North Shore High School, taking new student Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) along for the crazy, Burn Book-filled ride.</p>
<p>Aside from giving us many memorable quotes (see:<span> "She doesn't even go here!"), the film, written by Tina Fey, boosted the careers of many in its cast.</span></p>
<p><span>While some actresses, like Rachel McAdams (Regina) and Lizzy Caplan (Janis) continued to have successful careers in Hollywood, others actors such as Rajiv Surendra (Kevin) and Daniel Franzese (Damian) went on to pursue more artistic ventures.</span></p>
<p>It's been almost the 10-year reunion of "<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0377092/?ref_=nv_sr_1" target="_blank">Mean Girls</a>" - let's see what our favorite high school students and teachers are up to now.</p>

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