How 'Mean Girls' Musical Film Cast Compares to OG Movie Counterparts
Yana Grebenyuk
Paramount's ‘Mean Girls’ musical film is based on the original movie, which was later adapted into a stage production
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Us Weekly
Credit: Cover Images; Paramount Pictures

How the 'Mean Girls' Musical Film Adaptation Cast Compares to Their OG Movie Counterparts

The cast of the Mean Girls musical movie has big shoes to fill — and they seem more than up for the challenge. Mean Girls originally premiered in 2004 and starred Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Lacey Chabert, Amanda Seyfried, Lizzy Caplan, Daniel Franzese, Jonathan Bennett, Amy Poehler and Tina Fey. The film explored topics such as high school social cliques and school bullying through the lens of Cady (Lohan), who navigates the social hierarchy in a high school after years of homeschooling. Fey went on to adapt the cult classic into a stage musical. The Broadway musical took the theater world by storm in 2018 and even featured familiar faces including Reneé Rapp, who went on to join the upcoming Mean Girls musical movie. Keep scrolling to see how the cast of the new Mean Girls musical movie compares to their counterparts from the OG film:

Credit: Cover Images; Paramount Pictures

Cady

Lohan originated the lead character Cady, a teen girl who transfers to a public high school after being homeschooled her whole life in Africa. Angourie Rice, who took over the role in the upcoming musical movie, was determined to make her performance stand on its own.

"I think no matter what, no two people are going to do the same thing the same way. So I think no matter what, it's going to be different," Rice told Entertainment Tonight in December 2023 about her take on the part. "Even if you got two actors in a room to say the exact same speech, it's just going to be different."

She added: "So I'm not too worried about it being too similar or too different. I think it's going to be what it is, and I can't wait for people to see it."

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Regina

McAdams’ performance as the leader of The Plastics is one for the history books. Rapp, however, got the chance to develop her own approach to the role on stage before being cast as Regina in the musical film as well.

"It's just in my body. I know how it feels. I know how to do it in the way that I like to do it," she exclusively told Us Weekly in April 2023.. "I mean, it's obviously different now cause I'm 23 as opposed to being 19 and 20, and I think I'm better at my job now than I was when I was a kid. I also have, like, a much stronger sense of self at the moment than I did when I was 19."

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Aaron

Mean Girls would be nothing without its central love interest. Bennett was the first actor to look sexy with his hair pushed back and now Christopher Briney is getting a chance to introduce his own version of Aaron Samuels.

"I think the new musical movie is gonna be fantastic, and I hope that the new Aaron makes the character his own because it's his time to interpret the character,” Bennett told People in December 2023. "He must nail the word grool."

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Janis

Caplan played a girl out for revenge in the original Mean Girls movie. However, the musical version allows Auliʻi Cravalho to offer more insight to Janis since the character will be narrating the story.

“It takes blood, sweat, and tears to make any great film, and I think this is one of the greats,” Cravalho shared with EW. “We wanted it to be as iconic as the ’04 version while also putting our own spin on it ... and adding more glitter.”

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Damian

The plan to take Regina down was orchestrated not only by Janis but by Damian as well with Daniel Franzese bringing the character to life in 2004. This time around, Jaquel Spivey is rising to the challenge after being a fan of the original movie.

“Before I knew I was gay, I was always the guy that was with all the girls in the family. So I was like, ‘Oh, there’s a character who only hangs with the girls,’” he told EW about the OG movie. “How many chubby gay guys are on a screen, and how much is that representation shown? I wanted to be a part of it. It’s cool to show there’s somebody out there that’s like you. That’s what Mean Girls did for me.”

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Ms. Norbury

In addition to starring in the OG film, Fey wrote the screenplay and later adapted it for the stage. She is pulling triple duty in the upcoming movie as an actor, writer and producer on the project.

“Turns out the original did not fix anything and it’s only spread to adults, and now everyone behaves this way,” Fey told Entertainment Weekly in December 2023 about the updated message at the center of the story.

Credit: Cover Images; Paramount Pictures

Mrs. George

Regina’s mother was originally brought to life by Poehler in a performance forever memorialized through memes and parodies — including Kris Jenner’s iconic take in Ariana Grande’s music video for “Thank U Next.” Busy Philipps is taking over the role and she’s very much up for the task.

"You know something? I really never have been a regular mom," Philipps captioned an Instagram post in March 2023 about the casting news. "Reader, She cried (From happiness for once.) The Tina Fey universe IS so real and omg how did I end up in it? I'm grateful every day for her friendship and support.”

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Coach Carr

Viewers will never forget Dwayne Hill's take on a high school gym teacher who warns teenagers not to have sex or else they will get pregnant and die.

Jon Hamm, for his part, wasn't worried about how his approach to the material would compare.

"I was only on set for literally one day. I flew into New Jersey, where they were shooting in this abandoned high school and I shot for one day," Hamm told Insider in November 2023. "I won't tell you too much about what lines I do and don't say. I'll let that be a surprise for the viewers, but it's coming out soon and I hope people enjoy it."