‘Mean Girls’ Movie Musical Guide: Meet the New Plastics and That Surprise Extended Cameo

©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection

Remaking one of the most definitive films of a generation is not easy, but such is the task given to the cast of the new “Mean Girls.” A new spin on Tina Fey’s 2004 classic that throws in a handful of songs from the movie’s 2018 Broadway musical adaptation, this new iteration of “Mean Girls” aims to be a breakthrough moment for its talented cast of up-and-coming stars, just as the original was for the likes of Rachel McAdams, Amanda Seyfried, Lizzy Caplan and more.

While the new “Mean Girls” has earned mixed reviews from film critics, many agree the cast is far and away its strongest element. Variety film critic Owen Gleiberman singled out Reneé Rapp’s turn as Regina George, calling it “a star-in-the-making performance” and adding: “I’ll just say that after you’ve seen the pop singer Rapp make her grand entrance in a black vinyl bodysuit, singing ‘My name is Regina George, and I am a massive deal…’ as if she were Anita Ekberg crossed with Mata Hari, the scene carries a jolt, and you may wonder for a moment how Rachel McAdams, in the original film, made the impact she did without that song.”

From Rapp to a surprise cameo from an original star to “Moana” herself, below is your complete guide to the new “Mean Girls.”

Cady Heron (Then: Lindsay Lohan / Now: Angourie Rice)

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Lindsay Lohan cemented her teen royalty status in Hollywood by leading the original “Mean Girls” to $130 million at the worldwide box office. Now the role of the insecure-turned-mean Cady Heron falls on Angourie Rice, the Australian actress perhaps most recognizable for playing Betty Brant in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She had brief supporting roles in “Spider-Man: Homecoming” (2017), “Spider-Man: Far From Home” (2019), and “Spider-Man: No Way Home” (2021). She also impressed as Kate Winslet’s daughter in the Emmy-winning HBO limited series “Mare of Easttown.” Her breakthrough came in 2016 when she starred opposite Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe in the dark comedy “The Nice Guys,” which was followed by Sofia Coppola’s “The Beguiled.” Rice’s television work includes the Miley Cyrus-led “Black Mirror” episode “Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too” and the Jennifer Garner-headlined Apple TV+ miniseries “The Last Thing He Told Me.” With “Mean Girls,” Rice has landed her first lead role in a theatrical motion picture. She previously headlined the Paramount+ original movie “Honor Society” opposite “Stranger Things” favorite Gaten Matarazzo.

Regina George (Then: Rachel McAdams / Now: Reneé Rapp)

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The role of Regina George proved star-making for Rachel McAdams, whose previous work in “The Hot Chick” didn’t exactly give her the chance to show off her comic prowess. The new Regina George is Reneé Rapp, who knows a thing or two about the Plastics, as she played the character on Broadway in “Mean Girls: The Musical” after original star Taylor Louderman departed the show after a year. Rapp jumped to screen acting with a role in Mindy Kaling’s Max comedy series “The Sex Lives of College Girls,” where she played Leighton Murray, a confident rich girl coming to terms with her sexuality. Rapp is not returning to the show for Season 3. She began to turn her focus to music in 2022 by signing with Interscope Records and releasing her first EP, “Everything to Everyone.” Her first full-length album, titled “Snow Angel,” was released in August 2023.

Gretchen Wieners (Then: Lacy Chabert / Now: Bebe Wood)

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Lacy Chabert’s career will forever be intertwined with “fetch” thanks to the original “Mean Girls,” and now it’s Bebe Wood’s turn to make the word happen. The actor actually met “Mean Girls” creator Tina Fey on the set of “30 Rock” when she had a guest star role on Season 6 of the NBC sitcom when she was just a child. Her acting credits include “Veep,” “About a Boy” and “The New Normal,” but her most sizable role before “Mean Girls” was in the Hulu coming-of-age series “Love, Victor.” Wood had a series regular role as fan favorite Lake on all three seasons of the show. 

Karen (Then: Amanda Seyfried / Now: Avantika)

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“Mean Girls” marked the feature film debut of Amanda Seyfried, whose career would go on to include blockbuster musicals and Emmy wins, among other projects. The role of the simple-minded Karen now falls on Avantika, who is 18 years old and wasn’t even born when the original “Mean Girls” opened in theaters. That’s not to say Avantika doesn’t have screen experience. She was a Disney Channel star as the lead of the 2022 movie “Spin” and then joined her “Mean Girls” co-star Angourie Rice in Rebel Wilson’s Netflix original comedy film “Senior Year.” Avantika is a trained dancer and spent several years making Telugu-language dramas before crossing over into U.S. productions.  

Janis Ian / Janis ‘Imi’ike (Then: Lizzy Caplan / Now: Auliʻi Cravalho)

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Lizzy Caplan was one of the biggest breakouts of the original “Mean Girls” considering her character, Janis Ian, has many of the script’s best one-liners. The character has been renamed Janis ‘Imi’ike in the musical film to better fit the Hawaiian roots of actor Auliʻi Cravalho, who is best known for voicing “Moana” in the 2016 Disney animated film. Her rendition of the Oscar-nominated song “How Far I’ll Go” has immortalized Cravalho for Disney fans, and the track has earned over 600 million streams on Spotify to date. Cravalho followed up the Disney role with performances in the short-lived NBC drama “Rise,” Netflix’s drama film “All Together Now,” 20th Century Studios’ supernatural teen comedy “Darby and the Dead” and the Prime Video sci-fi series “The Power.” 

Damian Hubbard (Then: Daniel Franzese / Now: Jaquel Spivey)

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Daniel Franzese made Damian one of the original “Mean Girls’” most iconic characters, but the new Damian is in good hands on the big screen thanks to Jaquel Spivey. The “Mean Girls” musical marks Spivey’s first movie after earning raves on Broadway. He won a Drama Desk Award for outstanding actor in a musical and earned a Tony Award nomination in the same category for his breakout role as Usher in the Broadway production of “A Strange Loop,” which also won the Tony Award for best musical. 

Aaron Samuels (Then: Jonathan Bennett / Now: Christopher Briney)

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Jonathan Bennett was basically an unknown actor when he starred as Aaron Samuels in the original “Mean Girls” and became an instant teen heartthrob, but it’s a different story with new Aaron Samuels actor Christopher Briney. The 25-year-old star is already a favorite among Gen Z audiences thanks to his role as Conrad Fisher in the popular Prime Video teen drama series “The Summer I Turned Pretty.” The new “Mean Girls” is his first major studio movie after his supporting role as James Linton in the independent drama “Daliland.” 

Ms. Norbury (Then: Tina Fey / Now: Tina Fey)

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There’s no update for Ms. Norbury in the new “Mean Girls” movie, as Tina Fey takes on the role she originated in the 2004 movie. Fey also wrote the scripts for both films, as well as adapted the 2004 film into the Broadway musical that debuted in 2017 and ran through March 2020. The Broadway run was cut short due to the COVID pandemic, but it picked up 12 Tony Award nominations, including best musical. Fey was nominated for best book of a musical. The new film is a hybrid of sorts, taking only parts of the Broadway musical to bring to the big screen.

Principal Duvall (Then: Tim Meadows / Now: Tim Meadows)

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There’s also no update for Principal Duvall, played by Tina Fey’s “Saturday Night Live” colleague Tim Meadows in both the original film and the new musical remake. “Teachers work forever,” Fey told Seth Meyers last year about the decision not to change the actors for Ms. Norbury or Principal Duvall. “I want it to be like when Gilligan from Gilligan’s Island would be at a trade show and you’d be like, ‘Oh, he looks so old in his little hat.’ That’s my goal.”

Ms. Heron (Then: Ana Gasteyer / Now: Jenna Fischer)

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Tina Fey’s friend and former “Saturday Night Live” co-star Ana Gasteyer played Cady’s mom in the original “Mean Girls,” but now that role goes to “The Office” favorite Jenna Fischer. She starred on all nine seasons of NBC sitcom. In addition to the new “Mean Girls” movie, Fischer’s film credits include the studio comedies “Blades of Glory,” “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story” and “Hall Pass,” among other titles.

Mrs. George (Then: Amy Poehler / Now: Busy Philipps)

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Tina Fey cast her “Saturday Night Live” right hand woman Amy Poehler in “Mean Girls” in the brief role of Regina George’s mom, but Poehler’s ditzy line readings and dance moves while holding a camera made her one of the most quotable characters in the film. Now comedian and actor Busy Philipps takes on the cool mom role in the musical remake. Philips is well known for her television roles on “Freaks and Geeks,” “Dawson’s Creek” and “Cougar Town,” but she’s also appeared in classic film comedies like “White Chicks.” 

Coach Carr (Then: Dwayne Hill / Now: Jon Hamm)

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Tina Fey called up her friend and frequent scene partner Jon Hamm to play the role of the inappropriate health teacher Coach Carr in the new “Mean Girls” movie, taking over the role from Dwayne Hill. While Hamm is most associated for playing Don Draper on the AMC drama series “Mad Men,” recently named by Variety as the second-best television series of all time, the actor has often explored his comedic side by teaming up with Fey. He earned Emmy nominations for appearing on her sitcoms “30 Rock” and “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.”

Kevin Gnapoor / Kevin Ganatra (Then: Rajiv Surendra / Now: Mahi Alam)

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Mahi Alam takes on the role of horny mathlete leader Kevin in the new “Mean Girls” musical. The character was originally played by Rajiv Surendra. For Alam, “Mean Girls” marks his feature acting debut in a movie. His previous acting credit was on the Disney+ television series “American Born Chinese,” which was recently canceled after just one season.

Mathlete Competition Moderator (Lindsay Lohan)

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It wouldn’t be “Mean Girls” without Lindsay Lohan, and so the original Cady Heron makes a surprise appearance in the new musical remake with an extended cameo as the moderator of the mathletes competition that takes place during the story’s third act. This gives Lohan the chance to share the screen with the new Cady Heron actor Angourie Rice. It also puts Lohan in the room for one of her most famous “Mean Girls” lines: “The limit does not exist.” Marketing for the movie kept Lohan’s cameo a surprise, although she did pop up at the film’s world premiere in New York City to support the movie.

Madame Park (Ashley Park)

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Ashley Park has a cameo in the new “Mean Girls” movie as French teacher Madame Park. It’s a nod to the “Mean Girls” musical on Broadway, where Park originated the role of Gretchen and earned a Tony Award nomination for featured actress in a musical. The role proved a breakthrough for Park, who went on to appear in “Emily in Paris,” “Only Murders in the Building,” “Joy Ride” and more. 

Megan Thee Stallion (Cameo)

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Grammy-winning rapper Meg Thee Stallion pops up a couple of times in “Mean Girls” via TikToks that appear on screen during viral moments in the film. Her appearance coincides with her joining star Reneé Rapp on the film’s new original song, “It’s Not My Fault.”

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