Mean Girls is considered by many to be one of the most classic teen movies of all time. It helped launch the careers of Rachel McAdams and Amanda Seyfried – both of whom have gone on to be Oscar nominated. However, Seyfried, who is also likely to be Emmy nominated for her work in The Dropout, says it almost damaged her career before it really started.
Mean Girls was Seyfried’s first movie role, and she would go on to be in musicals Mamma Mia and Les Miserables, as well as Jennifer’s Body, First Reformed and Mank. However, Seyfried thought that Mean Girls would consign her to “dumb blonde sidekick” roles, according to a new interview with Variety.
Looking back 18 years later, Seyfried now regards Karen Smith as “the most iconic type of character,” but at the time, she wanted to be careful not to be pigeon-holed; “When I think of what I want out of my career, I want longevity. So how do you do that? You work with different types of people and different mediums. You keep people guessing.”
In The Dropout, Seyfried plays real-life fraudster Elizabeth Holmes, who is renowned for having a very distinctive voice, a wide-eyed blank stare, and an awkward dancing style – all of which Seyfried has won praise for in her performance. Seyfried was Oscar-nominated for playing another real life person – Marion Davies in David Fincher’s Mank.
McAdams’ Regina George (of Mean Girls) is now considered one of the best movie villains ever, with her lines often being quoted or turned into memes eg. “stop trying to make fetch happen.” The movie also starred Lindsay Lohan, Lacey Chabert, Amy Poehler, and Tina Fey – who wrote the screenplay.
If you’re a fan of comedies, check out our guide to the best rom-coms.