Where Mean Girls cast are now – from tragic Matthew Perry romance to star who quit Hollywood after ‘traumatic’ snub
IT may be one of the most quotable films to have ever been made - and definitely DID make “fetch” happen!
Mean Girls is returning to our screens this month, with a musical version, 20 years after it was first released.
The teen movie, written by Tina Fey, starred Lindsay Lohan as Cady Heron, who joins a stereotypical American high school for the first time, having been home-schooled in Africa until this point.
And it made stars out of the likes of Rachel McAdams and Amanda Seyfried, who played the Plastics' top dog Regina George and lovable bimbo Karen Smith.
Since starring in Mean Girls, Lindsay has had a roller-coaster of a life, having been in and out of rehab over the years, due to alcohol and drug abuse.
She has even served jail time on five different occasions, due to various misdemeanours.
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But in recent years, the Freaky Friday star has turned her life around.
In 2022, she married Bader Shammas, Assistant Vice President at banking firm Credit Suisse, and has a five-month-old son, Luai, with him.
And she was absolutely glowing, as she reunited with Tina at the Mean Girls world movie premiere at New York City's AMC Lincoln Square Theatre last night.
But what happened to her Mean Girls co-stars?
From a high-profile “excruciating” divorce to one star who quit Hollywood after losing out on a role in Life of Pi, we reveal where the cast of Mean Girls are now…
Rachel McAdams
Regina George was the character Mean Girls fans love to hate.
She was iconic, but absolutely terrifying - and was the role that, rightly so, launched Rachel McAdams into Hollywood stardom.
After Mean Girls, Rachel went on to star in everything from The Notebook to Spotlight, for which she earned an Oscar nomination.
Most recently, she starred in Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.
During the early Noughties, Rachel said she took regular 'breaks' from Hollywood, which saw her turn down roles in the likes of The Devil Wears Prada, Casino Royale, Mission: Impossible III and Iron Man.
And last year, she confessed she felt “guilty” about rejecting such huge opportunities.
Rachel is one of over 200 women who has claimed to have been sexually harassed by film director James Toback.
She told Vanity Fair how Toback invited her to his hotel room to discuss a potential film role when she was 21 years old where she says the "conversation turned quite sexual" and he became “manipulative.”
Rachel eventually excused herself - but says the event haunted her for years after.
Amanda Seyfried
Amanda Seyfried was so hilarious as Karen Smith - whose breasts “could always tell when it was already raining” - that she went on to huge success after the film.
She had leading roles in Mamma Mia! and Les Miserables - and was nominated for an Oscar for playing Marion Davies in Mank, in 2020.
She also won an Emmy in 2022, for her portrayal of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes in The Dropout.
In 2017, she was one of many A-listers affected by the nude photos leak, when intimate pictures of her and an ex-boyfriend emerged online.
Lacey Chabert
Gretchen Wieners was Regina’s lackey, whose father was the inventor of toaster strudel, and had hair so big it was “full of secrets”.
She was played by Lacey Chabert, who’d already had voice roles as a child in the likes of Anastasia and The Wild Thornberrys.
But, after Mean Girls, her career took a bit of a nosedive in comparison to her co-stars.
Previously, she had been the original choice to voice Meg Griffin on Family Guy, however, the role ended up going to Mila Kunis, after alleged contract issues.
Lacey has since starred in more than 30 Christmas films.
Amy Poehler
Regina’s mum wasn’t a regular mum - she was a cool mum.
And she was played by Tina Fey’s best mate and Saturday Night Live co-star Amy Poehler - despite actually only being seven years older than Rachel McAdams
After Mean Girls, Amy went on to star in cult comedy show, Parks and Recreation, eventually winning a Golden Globe for her role of Leslie Knope.
She’s also worked with Tina on various occasions, writing and starring in films like Sisters and Baby Mamma together.
They’ve also presented the Golden Globes together four times and had a live comedy tour together last year.
When it comes to her personal life, Amy split from fellow comedy actor Will Arnett after 13 years, in 2016, quickly moving on with Big Mouth creator Nick Kroll, and having a short-lived fling with him.
Will shares two sons with Amy and, in 2013, he told the Guardian how, on his way to shoot season 4 of Arrested Development, he "pulled over to the side of the road and cried for an hour about their "excruciating" divorce.
Lizzy Caplan
Lizzy Caplan played Janis Ian in Mean Girls, who viewers eventually find out was Regina’s best friend until she started spreading rumours Janis was a lesbian - and “obsessed” with her.
Lizzy has been in a few films since, including Cloverfield, but she’s most known for her TV work, having been in everything from True Blood to New Girl, and she starred as Virginia Johnson in Masters of Sex.
Most recently, she played Alex Forrest in the TV adaption of Fatal Attraction.
Lizzy had a six-year relationship with Friends actor Matthew Perry - who tragically died last year.
In his memoir, Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, Matthew confessed they never spoke again after splitting up in 2012, but he’d been planning to propose to her before.
Lizzy married actor Tom Riley in 2017, and they have a two-year-old son, Alfie.
Jonathan Bennett
Jonathan Bennett was Aaron Samuels - Cady’s crush and Regina’s on-off boyfriend, whose hair “looks sexy pushed back”.
He went on to appear in films like Cheaper By The Dozen 2, and even recreated his Mean Girls role in Ariana Grande’s 2018 thank u, next video.
In 2014, Jonathan took part on Dancing With The Stars making it to week six but, during his time on the dance show, judge Julianne Hough outed him as being gay.
Despite this, he’s embraced his sexuality since.
In 2020, Jonathan founded a travel company with former conman Eric Hodgson - who previously served a nine-year jail sentence in California for defrauding the Californian Department of Transportation out of $1.9million (£1.5m).
He also made history in 2022, when he starred in The Holiday Sitter - the Hallmark Channel's first Christmas movie about an LGBT couple.
That same year, he got married to husband Jaymes Vaughan, and had a destination wedding in Mexico.
Daniel Franzese
Daniel Franzese, as “too gay to function” Damien, is responsible for one of Mean Girls’ most-quoted lines, ‘You go, Glen Coco!”
After Mean Girls, he went on to portray HIV-positive character Eddie in the second series of Looking, and has become an AIDS activist since.
In 2017, Daniel claimed actress Bijou Phillips subjected him to “homophobia, body shaming and physical abuse” while, ironically, filming the 2001 movie, Bully.
At one point, he said, she twisted his nipple and kicked him in the back of the head.
Bijou later apologised, but added: “I don’t remember that time well. Those years are a blur.”
Tim Meadows
Having already starred with Tina Fey on SNL for years, Tim Meadows played North Shore High School’s head teacher Mr. Duvall.
He was also the only original cast member to reprise his role for the 2011 sequel Mean Girls 2, which was not written by Tina Fey and was widely panned.
Tim has appeared in many films and TV shows over the years, including The Goldbergs and Grown Ups, with Adam Sandler.
He will, of course, be playing Mr Duvall for the third time in the upcoming musical movie.
Rajiv Surendra
All you sucker MCs ain’t got nothing on rapping Mathlete Kevin G - who was played by Rajiv Surendra.
Despite having one of the most memorable performances in Mean Girls, Rajiv quit Hollywood after he wasn’t chosen to play the lead in 2012 movie Life of Pi.
Last year, he told GQ how he’d been so determined to get the role that he dropped out of college to move to the little town in India, where the book takes place.
Approximately 3,000 people auditioned for the lead role in Life of Pi, according to Variety - and the part eventually went to Suraj Sharma.
Rajiv says not getting the role was “traumatic,” and added: “I felt like someone had died.”
He even write a book which touched on his ordeal, called The Elephants In My Backyard.
He now works as a chalkboard artist and has a calligraphy and graphic design company called Letters in Ink.
He also has a YouTube channel, on which he shows viewers how to make Sri Lankan Tamil cuisine.
Ana Gasteyer
Ana Gasteyer played Cady’s mum in Mean Girls - who was a big fan of Ladysmith Black Mambazo.
She’s had a few movie roles since, including Wine Country with Amy Poehler and Tina Fey.
But she’s more famous for her TV work, having starred in The Good Wife, The Goldbergs and Suburgatory.
She also played Elphaba in Wicked, on Broadway, from 2006 to 2007.
Tina Fey
Not only did Tina Fey write Mean Girls, but she starred in it as Cady’s “pusher” teacher Ms. Norbury.
She has continued working in front of and behind the camera, creating hit TV show 30 Rock, which starred Alec Baldwin, as well as writing the likes of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
Last year, she starred in A Haunting in Venice, as Ariadne Oliver.
Thanks to her work, she’s received nine Emmy Awards, three Golden Globes and seven Writers Guild of America awards.
Tina and her composer-producer husband Jeff Richmond wrote the Mean Girls musical for Broadway, together, and received a Tony nomination for the score.
She also helped adapt the musical into the new movie, and will reprise her role of Ms. Norbury.
Neil Flynn
Neil Flynn was already well-known as the prank-loving ‘Janitor’ from Scrubs when he starred as Cady’s dad in Mean Girls.
He went on to star in Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull and Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs.
Following the finale of Scrubs, he landed a role in The Middle and most notably appeared in the NBC sitcom Abby's.
Alisha Morrison
Alisha Morrison’s Mean Girls character was Lea Edwards - who was wearing her mum’s vintage skirt, that was the “ugliest f-ing skirt” Regina had ever seen.
After her small role, Alisha Morrison had a few appearances on TV, including in Instant Star and 'Da Kink in My Hair.
However, she now works in HR at a gold mining company, according to her Instagram.
Diego Klattenhoff
Diego Klattenhoff played Shane Oman, who was secretly hooking up with Regina in the projection room above the auditorium, while she was dating Aaron.
Despite the relatively minor role in Mean Girls, Diego has since starred in a lot of TV, including Homeland and more recently in The Blacklist.
He has also appeared in some hit movies like Pacific Rim and After Earth.
Jan Caruana
Jan Caruana’s Mean Girls character Emma Gerber was a small, yet memorable, character, having been awarded a small chunk of the Spring Fling Queen crown by Cady for her pretty hairdo that “must have taken her hours”.
Jan reunited with Rachel McAdams in 2009, when they both starred in The Time Traveller’s Wife together.
However, Jan has taken more of a writing career path since Mean Girls.
She wrote Canadian sketch show Sunnyside and has and won many awards for her comedy-writing.
Julia Chantrey
Julia Chantrey played “burnout” Amber D’Alessio - who made out with a hot dog “one time”!
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Since Mean Girls, Julia has continued to act and starred opposite Jessica Chastain in Guillermo del Toro's 2013 horror film Mama.
She has also had small roles in many well-known TV shows, including The Handmaid’s Tale and The Umbrella Academy.