Mean Girls was a smash hit when it was released in 2004, and it’s still talked about — and endlessly quoted — today. After all, it’s very fetch (okay, we’re still trying to make “fetch” happen!) But where is the cast today? Almost two decades after the original movie, and just around the corner from a new musical movie adaptation, let’s catch up with the iconic stars and see how they’re doing since Mean Girls mania swept the world.
Lindsay Lohan as Cady Heron
Poor, innocent Cady Heron never planned to be a mean girl, but she was sucked into the world of the Plastics nonetheless. Lindsay Lohan was iconic in the role of the high school newcomer-(briefly)-turned-queen-bee. But did you know she originally wanted to play Regina George in the movie?
Director Mark Waters told Vulture in 2014, “[Lohan’s] energy is a very aggressive, testosterone-laden energy, and that’s exactly what I knew I needed for Regina George.” But after a script read-through, Paramount bosses decided they wanted her to play Cady instead, and Lohan “begrudgingly” accepted the lead role.
Fetch fact: Lindsay Lohan and Tina Fey were the only actors named on the original movie poster
Unfortunately, Lindsay Lohan’s career took a downturn after Mean Girls. She was a tremendous talent, but before long her personal life began to spiral, and she was rarely out of the tabloids.
Lohan seems to have worked out her issues now. She seems happier, and she’s back to acting. She starred in the Christmas rom-com Falling for Christmas in 2022, and in 2023 she reunited with Amanda Seyfried and Lacey Colbert for a Mean Girls-themed Walmart ad, which was as iconic as we hoped.
Rachel McAdams as Regina George
Rachel McAdams’ Regina George was the queen of the Plastics at North Shore High School, and she ruled with an iron fist. She also ruled with fear, and Cady soon learned how to exploit that fear. Regina always considered herself the victim in the situation, of course, especially when she got hit by a bus.
Though Regina was meant to be 16 or 17 years old, McAdams was actually 26 when she was filming the movie! The actress originally read for Cady, but director Waters thought she was too old for the part. When it came to finding a Regina, though, he felt McAdams’ age suited the role: “I think it makes sense if Regina kind of grew up a little too fast,” he told Vulture.
Fetch fact: Rachel McAdams was only 7 years younger than her on-screen mom
After Mean Girls, Rachel McAdams’ career went from strength to strength. The Notebook was released the same year, and she went on to star in hit after hit, including Wedding Crashers (2005), Sherlock Holmes (2009), and About Time (2013). She was also nominated for an Academy Award for her role in the 2015 movie Spotlight.
Still, McAdams credits Mean Girls for much of her success. “Does Regina George haunt me every day? She does have that quality,” the actress told The New York Times in 2018. “No, I have to thank Regina George for giving me some longevity. I’m forever grateful to Tina Fey and Mark Waters.”
Lacey Chabert as Gretchen Wieners
Gretchen Wieners was one of the funniest characters in a movie full of them. The highly strung popular girl is probably best remembered for trying to make “fetch” happen (it’s not going to happen), but she also had some of the greatest one-liners in the film: “I don’t think my father, the inventor of Toaster Strudel, would be too pleased with this!”
The above quote is actually Rachel McAdams’ favorite line in all of Mean Girls, even though it wasn’t her who said it! Such is the power of Gretchen Wieners, who was brought to life perfectly by Lacey Chabert.
Fetch fact: In the original script, Gretchen was unattractive with a “sniveling whiny face”
Before Mean Girls, she’d already had an acting career as a child, lending her voice to some pretty big movies and shows, including Anastasia (1997), The Lion King II: Simba's Pride (1998), and The Wild Thornberrys (1998-2004). She also voiced Meg Griffin for the first 13 episodes of Family Guy (1999)! After Mean Girls, she was in some DC and Star Wars animated shows and a ton of Hallmark movies.
Unlike her fellow Plastics, Chabert’s most iconic role is probably still her character from Mean Girls. And now her daughter has seen the film! Chabert said on The Kelly Clarkson Show in 2022 that her five-year-old saw a few scenes from the movie and told her, “Mommy, I didn’t know you were Gretchen Wieners. Did you know that was your name?” Cute.
Amanda Seyfried as Karen Smith
Karen Smith is, according to the character of Janis at least, “one of the dumbest girls you will ever meet.” She’s remembered best for dressing up as a mouse (duh) on Halloween, being able to predict the weather, and for her incredibly relatable excuse to get out of a social plan:“I can’t go out...”[fake coughs]“I’m sick.”
Though it’s hard to believe now, Amanda Seyfried wasn’t the first choice to play Karen. The actress told Vanity Fair in 2023 that she’d originally tried out for the part of Regina, and at that point none other than actress Blake Lively was set to play Karen.
Fetch fact: Amanda Seyfried thinks Karen grew up to “own a store that sells really cool dog attire, like Swarovski dog collars and Halloween costumes for animals”
Amanda Seyfried is the furthest thing possible from a mean girl in real life. She’s an activist for children and animals, in fact. She’s an ambassador for War Child USA and Best Friends Animal Society and sits on the board of the charity INARA.
Since Mean Girls, Seyfried shot to mega-fame. She’s appeared in several huge movies, perhaps most famously Mamma Mia — and gained almost universal acclaim for her performance as Elizabeth Holmes in The Dropout.
Lizzy Caplan as Janis Ian
“Nice wig, Janis. What’s it made of?”“Your mom’s chest hair!”Janis Ian is many Mean Girls fans’ favorite character thanks to her iconic one-liners. She’s the down-to-earth outcast who comes up with the idea for Cady to infiltrate the Plastics and ruin them. She’s bitter because she was once best friends with Regina George (hello, she also came up with the choreography for the “Jingle Bell Rock” number!) but then Regina spread a rumor that she was a lesbian.
Not many fans know that Janis is named after a real-life singer and songwriter. The real Janis Ian’s song, an ode to teenage difficulties titled “At Seventeen,” can be heard fittingly in the movie: “I learned the truth at seventeen, that love was made for beauty queens.”
Fetch fact: Lizzy Caplan almost didn’t get the role of Janice because the producers thought she was too pretty
Unlike some of her co-stars, Lizzy Caplan feels that her career wasn’t really helped by Mean Girls. “I remember after Mean Girls I didn’t work again for a long time,” she told The Independent in 2020. “For like a year, I couldn’t get a job. The next thing I did, I straight up dyed my hair blonde and got a spray tan.”
Her career is going just fine now, though. She got a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for her lead role in the drama Masters of Sex and has been in plenty of other high-profile TV shows since then, including New Girl and True Blood. She’s also married and has a son.
Daniel Franzese as Damian
Everyone loved Damian, Janis’ best friend who was “too gay to function,” but no one knew at the time that actor Daniel Franzese, just like his character, was also gay. He came out in an emotional letter to his character in 2014.
“Dear Damian,” he wrote. “It’s been a long time since our last encounter. Ten years to be exact. I was twenty-six; you were sixteen. You were proud of who you were; I was an insecure actor. You became an iconic character that people looked up to; I wished I’d had you as a role model when I was younger.”
Fetch fact: There was originally a scene in the movie where Damien smoked, but producers didn’t want to show the teenage characters smoking
Franzese now enjoys a successful entertainment career. He’s appeared in several TV shows and was even a guest judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race in 2020. But he’s still happy to be associated with Damian and Mean Girls.
In fact, he’s proud to have played a character who helped people in real life come to terms with who they are. He recalls many people sending him messages about how much Damian meant to them. That was one of the reasons, he says, that he decided to publicly come out in the first place.
Jonathan Bennett as Aaron Samuels
Jonathan Bennett was thrilled to book the male lead of Mean Girls. A different actor had been cast initially, so he was very surprised when, during a shift at his Abercrombie & Fitch day job, he discovered he had a second shot.
“I had a message from my agent saying, ‘Call me back right away, you’re the lead in the new Paramount movie and have to go to Canada tomorrow.’” he told Cosmopolitan UK in 2019. “I was like, ‘Cool, I’ll call you back after my shift’ and he said, ‘You don’t have a shift anymore, go home and start packing.’” So he did!
Fetch fact: Jonathan Bennett made Lindsay Lohan blush during their first screen test
Aaron may have been the love interest of Cady in the film, but Jonathan Bennett is gay in real life. Like Daniel Franzese, he wasn’t publicly out at the time Mean Girls was filmed, and he found a kindred spirit in Franzese. “It was a different time back then, so we confided in each other and shared our own worries, fears, hopes and dreams,” Bennett recalled. “Having Daniel and us being able to talk to each other really helped."
Since Mean Girls, Bennett has appeared in movies like Cheaper by the Dozen 2 (2005) and Van Wilder: Freshman Year (2009). He’s also been big in the reality TV scene, featuring on Dancing with the Stars and Big Brother, and hosting shows like like Cupcake Wars.
Tina Fey as Ms. Norbury
Tina Fey of course starred in Mean Girls as Ms Norbury, but she also wrote the script. What fans might not know is that she based the idea heavily on her own high school experience. In fact, Fey was the Regina George of her own school! “I was the mean girl,” the actress told Net-a-Porter’s The Edit. “I admit it openly.”
She also said that bullying was “a bad coping mechanism” and explained, “When you feel less than (in high school, everyone feels less than everyone else for different reasons), in your mind it's a way of leveling the playing field. Though of course it's not."
Fetch fact: Tina Fey made her character a math teacher to dispel the idea that girls couldn’t do math
After Mean Girls, Fey became even more fey-mous. She continued to be one of the most successful female comedians in America, and you’ve probably caught her in other movies that are almost as funny as Mean Girls.
Fey has racked up numerous accolades, including a AP Entertainer of the Year Award and no less than nine Primetime Emmy awards. She’s also the youngest ever person to get a Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. And she’s not a mean girl anymore!
Amy Poehler as Mrs. George
Amy Poehler, Tina Fey’s partner in crime and comedy, has a small but mighty role in Mean Girls as Regina’s mother. She’s not a regular mom, okay? She’s a cool mom!
But Poehler came very close to losing out on the role. “Paramount weren’t sure about having too many SNL stars in the movie as they didn’t want it to feel like an SNL film,” director Mark Waters told Cosmopolitan in 2019. “I really fought to have Tim Meadows and Amy Poehler in the cast.”
Fetch fact: The scene with the dog — you know the one — was achieved by pinning a piece of cocktail weiner into Poehler’s bra
Just like Fey, Poehler has continued to be a hugely successful comedian. Before the movie, she was best-known for her antics on SNL, where she stayed until 2010. Since Mean Girls, she’s appeared in several films alongside Fey — like Baby Mama and Sisters — but she’s done some of her most popular work while flying solo.
Pohler’s also turned her hand to directing. In 2022 she directed Lucy and Desi, a documentary about famous comedians Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, and it was met with critical acclaim.
Jill Morrison as “Crying Girl”
Mean Girls is packed with small but mighty parts, characters with only a few lines who still manage to steal the show. One of these is the sobbing student played by Jill Morrison.
Remember her? She sniffles, “I just wish we could all get along like we used to in middle school. I wish that I could bake a cake made out of rainbows and smiles and we’d all eat it and be happy…” only for Damien to yell, “She doesn’t even go here!” Iconic.
Fetch fact: Morrison’s character doesn’t have a name; she’s just Crying Girl
But Jill Morrison does very much go here, if “here” is “the TV industry.” She’s a very prolific actor. You may have spotted her in shows including The Good Doctor, Supergirl, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Supernatural, iZombie, Smallville… the list goes on.
Morrison also has an Instagram account where she shares details about her life and career, and in her bio is the quote, “She doesn’t even go here!” She clearly still loves Mean Girls, and, of course, everyone else does too.
Ana Gasteyer as Betsy Heron
Cady’s mom, Betsy Heron, was played by another SNL comedienne, Ana Gasteyer. So, like Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, she was well-known before Mean Girls came along. She’d also had small roles on shows like Seinfeld and Frasier.
Just like her character, Gasteyer is also happily married. She married Charlie McKittrick back in 1996 and has two children with him. Since Mean Girls, she’s been in TV shows like Suburgatory and The Goldbergs.
Fetch fact: In the movie Betsy is offered tenure at Northwestern, which so happens to be the university Ana Gasteyer went to
Gasteyer took part in a Mean Girls reunion on Zoom in 2020, which delighted fans. Gasteyer reminisced with some of her cast mates, including Fey, McAdams, Seyfried, and Lohan, and talked about the film’s incredible impact and legacy.
In 2021 Gasteyer appeared on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, and she expressed her approval for her on-screen daughter’s engagement. She said, “I like marriage. I am a fan. You know, you want to do it for a minute or seven, that is up to you. It is fun, weddings are fun.”
Tim Meadows as Mr. Duvall
Was Mr. Duvall the unsung star of Mean Girls? He was, after all, one of the few people in that high school with a sensible head on their shoulders. Until that baseball bat-weilding scene, anyway.
You may have noticed that Mr. Duvall’s has a cast on his arm for the whole movie. That’s explained away as a carpal tunnel syndrome flare-up, but in actual fact that cast is there because actor Tim Meadows had broken his hand just before filming started!
Fetch fact: Mr Duvall’s line, “I did not leave the South Side for this!” is a reference to the movie Lean on Me
Tim Meadows must have really liked being in Mean Girls, because not only did he reprise his role in the ill-fated sequel Mean Girls 2, but he also returned for the 2024 movie musical version.
“I got a lot of love and respect for Tina Fey, and she knows it,” Meadows told CBS Local in 2018. “A lot of my success after SNL is due to [Mean Girls]. A friend put me in a movie and wrote a part for me and I was smart enough to do it and do a good job at it.”
Daniel DeSanto as Jason
The hilariously sleazy Jason doesn’t have a ton of scenes, but he sure had some of the most memorable lines, including the iconic “Is your muffin buttered?” Actor Daniel DeSanto is still recognized as “Jason from Mean Girls” today.
“I’ve been so lucky to be a part of projects that have some nostalgia or longevity to them,” DeSanto told Page Six in 2009. “Mean Girls is a classic for our generation.” Damn right.
Fetch fact: Jason’s “Is your muffin buttered?” line was originally much, much ruder
If you recognized Jason watching Mean Girls but couldn’t work out why, it might be because DeSanto was in the show Are You Afraid of the Dark for a while when he was a kid.
DeSanto has plenty on his resumé in addition to that and Mean Girls. He’s been in TV shows Murdoch Mysteries, Man Seeking Woman, Imposters, and more. Plus, he’s the voice of Daring Danny X in the phenomenally popular children’s TV show Paw Patrol.
Neil Flynn as Chip Heron
Neil Flynn had already made a name for himself as the janitor in hit show Scrubs when he landed the Mean Girls gig. He played Cady’s well-meaning but ultimately pretty clueless father, Chip.
“I got the part because somebody else dropped out, and I happened to do the table read of it just because I knew Tina [Fey],” Flynn remembered to Digital Spy in 2014. “The actor doing it couldn’t fulfill his duties, sort of like a Miss America thing, so I stepped up.”
Fetch fact: The scene where Chip Heron reacts to his daughter’s “Jingle Bell Rock” dance was all improvised
We’re kind of glad that other actor dropped out, because even though Flynn only had a small role, it’s impossible to imagine the movie without him. The actor loved being a part of it, too.
“It was the beginning of Tina’s rise to global domination. I think that movie is a touchstone for a lot of people. In the same way Animal House was for my generation really,” he told Digital Spy. “I didn’t necessarily think it would be a big deal, but I knew that it would be funny because Tina wrote it.”
Stefanie Drummond as Bethany Byrd
Bethany Byrd may have been a minor character in Mean Girls, but boy did she have a big impact. Her hilarious lines include, “I saw Cady Heron wearing army pants and flip-flops, so I bought army pants and flip-flops.” She’s also the girl with the heavy flow, remember? Turns out actress Stefanie Drummond had a great time on set, too.
“I went in for a fitting after getting the part and looked up and saw a picture of my friend Jan [Caruana, who played Emma Gerber] from acting school,” Drummond recalled to Cosmopolitan UK. “One of my favorite memories is me and Jan, now one of my best friends, in our ball gowns together for the prom scene.”
Fetch fact: The Motion Picture Association wanted to cut the “heavy flow” line
The Mean Girls team had to check with Drummond’s agent that she was okay with saying some of her more explicit lines, but she said yes right away, and that changed the course of her life. People still recognzie her for this small part nearly 20 years later.
“I’m now a meme; it’s odd but not bad. I kind of get a kick out of it and it makes me laugh. I never get angry and I'm always just very grateful for it,” she said. “But, imagine a one-month project you did 15 years ago and people still come up to you, recognize you and use you as a meme?”
Kevin Gnapoor
Oh, Kevin G. One of our favorite Mean Girls characters. Brought to life perfectly by Rajiv Surendra, he was another minor character who really made the movie. Can you believe Surendra originally auditioned for Damian? He then got a callback to audition for Kevin G, but he thought he’d blown his chance.
“I completely flumped the audition,” he told Cosmopolitan UK. “I couldn't remember the rap and left feeling really defeated. They called me back, and I was really shocked. For the callbacks, I memorized it for Mark [Waters] and didn't screw it up. I really commend him for seeing a young actor’s potential.”
Fetch fact: Kevin’s rap was originally a lot ruder
Surendra remembers the filming of Mean Girls as being “relaxed,” and even though the set was packed with well-known names, he said, “They weren’t movie stars, so the environment wasn’t intimidating at all.”
“I entered this profession in the hope of contributing something to popular cinema,” Surendra added. “It’s a dream every actor has but rarely is able to fulfil. That has actually happened. For 10 minutes of screen time, I was able to put in something that people remembered, loved and made them laugh. I am really grateful I was given the opportunity to do that.”
Diego Klattenhoff as Shane Oman
Remember Shane Oman? He’s the guy Regina was cheating with while she was still dating Aaron, then he got caught in his underwear, and then was the one who told Regina about how Kalteen bars make a person gain weight. Oops.
Actor Klattenhoff had a great time on the Mean Girls set and got on well with his co-stars. He told Cosmopolitan UK, “Lindsay [Lohan] was terrific, like a hand meets glove. She was so professional and would just knock it out on every take.”
Fetch fact: Diego Klattenhoff and Daniel DeSanto (Jason) became best friends
Klattenhoff, like many of his co-stars, has had a very successful acting career since Mean Girls. You may have spotted him on screen in 24, Homeland, The Blacklist, or sci-fi blockbuster Pacific Rim. But his Mean Girls days still follow him around.
Klattenhoff told Cosmopolitan, “I was shooting [The Blacklist] on set a couple of weeks ago, and there was a production assistant who, because it was cold, had a hoodie on tied around her face and crazy big sunglasses on. As I walked past, I heard the other PAs go ‘SHE DOESN'T EVEN GO HERE’ to her, and they all cracked up. There are a million of those lines.”
Jan Caruana as Emma Gerber
Jan Caruana had mixed feelings about playing Emma Gerber at first. She told Cosmopolitan, “I remember the character being put in the ‘girls who eat their feelings’ group in the canteen was a little bit hard because nobody wants to be known as that person.”
The actress went on, “You have to remember you’re doing a job, but being at that table with the props people just putting piles and piles of food in front of me made me think, ‘Okay, nobody eats this much.’”
Fetch fact: One of Jan Caruana’s fondest memories from Mean Girls was talking to Amy Poehler in the hair and makeup truck
Caruana came round to the idea though. “Later in the movie my character calls Regina George a ‘fat ass’ which is a bit of a comeuppance for her and a victory for Emma,” she said. “But the genius of Tina Fey is that later in the film she basically says: ‘You can't make yourself feel better by making other people feel worse.'”
All in all, Caruana had a positive experience on the set and a very successful comedy career afterwards. She’s been in lots of shows in her native Canada and is a Canadian Screen Award-nominated writer now.
David Reale as Glen Coco
“Four for you, Glen Coco! You go, Glen Coco!” That innocuous line became one of the most famous movie quotes of the ’00s. But what many viewers don’t know about it is that there was a real-life Glen Coco!
Tina Fey used the name of a friend of her brother’s, film editor Glenn Cocco, for the character. She had no idea that people would love the scene so much that “You go, Glen Coco!” would be a phrase people are still using two decades on.
Fetch fact: In the scene where Glen Coco gets his candy, there’s a quote on the blackboard about queens seeking revenge — fits in well to the plot of Mean Girls, doesn’t it?
The Glen Coco in the film was played by an actor called David Reale. And guess what? He didn’t even go there! Nope, he auditioned (for a different part), but he wasn’t hired. Later, he wandered onto the set one day — they were filming near where he lived — to see if he could watch some of the action and bag some free food. People assumed he was meant to be there, and he ended up getting put in a scene!
Reale told Dazed Digital in 2014, “I just sat in a chair and tried not to stare at Lindsay Lohan. I guess it was the first time somebody pointed to me on the street and shouted ‘YOU GO GLEN COCO!’ that I knew I was involved in something with a beauty and power that surpassed the mere proliferation of four candy canes to an accidental movie extra.”
Dwayne Hill as Coach Carr
So, Coach Carr is probably the worst character in the whole of Mean Girls, since he’s a sexual predator — to quote Mr. Duvall: “Coach Carr, step away from the underage girls!” — and a hugely incompetent sex ed teacher. But actor Dwayne Hill is just a nice, funny guy.
Before Mean Girls, Hill had appeared in several indie films and commercials, and Mean Girls was just another role to add to his resumé. He had no idea the movie would become so huge — and probably the thing he’s best known for.
Fetch fact: Jon Hamm is bringing Coach Carr to life again in the Mean Girls musical movie
Hill, like many others, couldn’t have predicted that Mean Girls would become such a cultural phenomenon. “I don’t think anybody did,” he told HuffPost in 2104. He knew that Waters was a great director and that Fey was funny, but that was about it.
“It was light fluff,” he continued, “but this was a movie that deals with really serious topics. You don't even realize that until the end. You're like, ‘Oh my God, did we ever take a journey!’ [...] It's so universally loved. It speaks to everybody. That's Mark Waters and Tina Fey.”