Mean Girls made its mark at the box office more than two decades ago and has since become a cult classic.
The high school dramady starring Lindsay Lohan as an outsider and Rachel McAdams as the queen bee could have been very different.
The original plan was to cast Lohan, 39, as Regina George, but director Mark Waters, who had directed the teen star in 2003’s Freaky Friday couldn’t find an actress he liked for the role of Cady Heron, and thought Rachel was ‘too old’ to play the part.
Rachel was 25 years old at the time of filming, while Lindsay was 18.
‘I actually read an actress from Canada for the part and I told her, “You’re way too old for this part, but I think you’re a movie star, you’re amazing.” It was Rachel McAdams,‘ the director told Variety.
‘I know Tina Fey and Lorne Michaels and Sherry Lansing watched a rough cut of Freaky Friday and they decided they wanted both me and Lindsay.’
Mean Girls director Mark Waters has revealed that Lindsay Lohan, 39, was originally supposed to play queen bee Regina George in the beloved high school dramady
‘I convinced everyone that Lindsay should be playing Regina, not Cady,’ he recalled.
‘Lindsay’s energy is much more like Regina — I don’t mean that in a negative way,’ he said.
‘She’s just much more forceful and a really strong personality. I remember reading the Regina scenes with her and she was amazing.’
‘When we went to cast Cady, we couldn’t find anybody,’ the American Film Institute award winner said.
Water explained that ‘when we couldn’t cast Cady, we went back to Rachel for Regina. And her reading a little bit older worked because it brought a certain power and maturity to it.’
Lohan, who was 17 at the time, was disappointed but went along with the casting change.
Waters revealed that Paramount Pictures CEO ‘Sherry Lansing pointed out that with Freaky Friday such a big hit, she had to be the lead of the movie. It all worked out for the best. ‘
Lohan confirmed the switch in casting in a New York Times interview with Freakier Friday co-stars Julia Buttars and Sophia Hammons.
‘You’re lucky because you’re close in age,’ she told them, referring to her problem fitting in with her co-stars during the making of Mean Girls.
Rachel McAdams, 46 — who was 25-years-old at the time — had originally read for the role of Cady, but was deemed ‘too old’ to play the character by the director; McAdams seen in a still
Lohan, who was 18 at the time, took the part of new girl Cady and McAdams starred as Regina George (seen with co-stars Amanda Seyfried and Lacey Chabert)
Mean Girls went on to earn more than $130 million worldwide and inspired a Broadway musical that received 12 Tony nominations
The 2024 Mean Girls movie musical, inspired by the Broadway show, went on to earn more than $104 million globally
‘It was hard because Rachel McAdams was so much older,’ she told the publication.
Co-stars Lacy Chabert and Amanda Seyfried, then 21 and 17, were already out of school, while Lohan still had to work on her studies. ‘Amanda and Lacey were all hanging out. It was hard for me to find where I fit in.’
Mean Girls went on to earn more than $130 million worldwide and inspired a Broadway musical that received 12 Tony nominations.
That show inspired the 2024 Mean Girls movie musical, which earned more than $104 million globally.
