Mean Girlsis perfectly cast, and it’s hard to imagine what the movie would look like without Lindsay Lohan as the main character, Cady Heron, but Lohan originally was interested in the role of Regina George. Lohan was already a major teen star in 2004, having gained popularity fromThe Parent Trapin 1998 as well asFreaky FridayandConfessions of a Teenage Drama Queen.
Cady is the POV lead ofMean Girls, but Regina is the leader of the Plastics, and a teenage Lohan felt Regina would be a more glamorous role to play. Luckily, Lohan was convinced to play Cady, but then the casting team had to find someone to play Regina who could hold her own against Lohan’s star power. Many of theMean Girlscastactually auditioned for characters other than the one they ultimately played, andLohan’s life changed dramatically afterMean Girls.Mean Girlscould have been an entirely different movie if any one piece of casting landed differently, with Lohan’s sliding doors moment being the ultimate example.
Lindsay Lohan Wanted To Play Regina George In Mean Girls
Lindsay Lohan Thought Regina George Would Be A More Enjoyable Role
Regina George was the role Lohanwanted to playafter reading the script forMean Girls. Lohan felt she had played the role of a normal, underdog teenager inFreaky FridayandConfessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, soLohan wanted to play Reginaand go against type to be the glamorous, popular girl with the cool car and chic wardrobe. After she reached a new level of success followingFreaky Friday,the casting team did not want to alienate Lindsay Lohan’s audience by having her play an outright villain, so she switched to playing the lead character and audience surrogate, Cady.
Lindsay Lohan eventually came to appreciate Cady’s more relaxed style once production was underway. Lindsay shared that she was grateful for the days when she played the pre-Plastic Cady, because she got to wear sneakers while the rest of the Plastics had their stylish heels.
Once Lindsay was attached to play Cady, theMean Girlscasting team had to find an actress who could play a Regina who would dominate the screen. Rachel McAdams originally auditioned to play Cady, but director Mark Waters felt she was too old to play the lead. Lohan was 17 and McAdams was 26. However, her age worked to McAdams’ advantage when she read for Regina against Lohan, as the younger actress was slightly intimidated by the age gap. The dynamic worked well for Regina and Cady.
How Lindsay Lohan And Rachel McAdams’ Casting Impacted Mean Girls
The Dynamic Between Cady Heron And Regina George Is The Core Of Mean Girls
While Cady is the lead ofMean Girls, Regina George is the titular mean girl and McAdams’ take on Regina was instantly iconic. Tina Fey liked the “kind and polite” facade McAdams brought to a cold, calculating character. Regina is manipulative, andMcAdams gives Regina a layered performance where her actions can be interpreted in different ways. Whilenot everyone agrees Regina is the true villainofMean Girls, McAdams was an indispensable part of the character’s complexity.
When Cady meets Regina, Regina compliments a bracelet Cady is wearing. Once they are friends, Regina pulls a similar stunt where she compliments a girl’s skirt only to turn around and call the skirt “fugly,” leading Cady to recontextualize every interaction since they met. However, McAdams' magnetic portrayal of Regina helps audiences understand why Cady is drawn into her orbit, even thoughRegina is pure evil. Without her performance, this nuance wouldn’t have been possible.
Lohan wanted to play the popular girl, and Cady gave her the chance to play the “homeschooled jungle freak” as well as the Queen of the Plastics. She plays naive and sheltered excellently, and her transition into a mean girl is equally believable.Mean Girlshinges on even Cady not realizing when she crosses the line from pretending to be a mean girl to actually becoming one. Lohan nails the subtle transition of Cady inMean Girlsand even elevates the voice-over beyond mere exposition.
Regina George seems like the splashier role, but it’s hard to pictureMean Girlswithout Lohan bringing such charm to the POV character of Cady Heron.
Lohan could have fulfilled the role of Regina George, butMean Girlsas a movie would feel unbalanced with her playing the apex predator. Because she was the big star of the movie and known for playing likable leads,casting Lohan as the villain might have made Regina George too sympathetic. Regina seems like the splashier role, but it’s hard to pictureMean Girlswithout Lohan bringing such charm to the POV character of Cady.
How Mean Girls' Other Casting Choices Came To Be
Amanda Seyfried Also Auditioned For A Different Role
When a movie is cast as perfectly asMean Girls, the actors seem destined for the roles, but theMean Girlscasting team explored a few different avenues for characters or actors. There were a lot ofinteresting behind-the-scene facts in the production ofMean Girls, but it’s difficult to imagine any more impactful than the movie’s casting dramas and dilemmas.
Amanda Seyfried originally auditioned for Regina, though she ultimately played Karen Smith. Director Mark Waters saidSeyfried brought a “spacey,” ethereal energy to Reginathat was different from McAdams' take. Lizzy Caplan was considered too conventionally beautiful to play outcast Janis Ian, but her audition blew away the competition. Jonathan Bennett won the role of heartthrob Aaron Samuels because he reminded Tina Fey of Jimmy Fallon. Amy Poehler was cast as Mrs. George, Regina’s mother, despite being only seven years older than Rachel McAdams.
Mean Girlsis endlessly quotableand filled with iconic performances. ImaginingMean Girlswith Lindsay Lohan as Regina George and Rachel McAdams as Cady Heron is an interesting thought experiment, but the movie’s enduring legacy and contemporary success prove that the right actors ended up in the right roles.
Mean Girls
Cast
Mean Girls tells the story of Cady (Lindsay Lohan), a teen girl who falls in with the wrong crowd. After returning to the USA after spending her childhood in Africa, Cady infiltrates her school’s group of mean girls, befriending the conniving Regina George (Rachel McAdams) and her cronies. However, Cady finds the high school hierarchy to be far more complicated than she had imagined, drawing her into a game of manipulation and deceit that threatens her reputation.
