Let’s not try to play it cool or anything here and just face the facts: Mean Girls is a certified classic of the comedy movie genre. The 2000s movie is now regarded as something of a cult classic, and the impact it has had on the modern era of memes and using movie quotes in every day life is huge. But the movie could have been very different if its star Lindsay Lohan had her way, and had ended up playing the villain.
The coming of age comedy from 2004 tells the story of new girl in town, Cady Heron, who tries desperately to fit in at her new school and falls in with the wrong crowd. The titular clique of not-very-nice young ladies is led by Regina George, played brilliantly by Rachel McAdams. The rom-com movie also features a young Amanda Seyfried, Lacey Chabert, and Tina Fey.
In a new video interview with Vogue, Lohan revealed that instead of playing the protagonist of the movie, she would have preferred to play the villainous Regina George, leader of ‘The Plastics’.
“I wanted to play Regina, because I’d just come off of Freaky Friday, and I wanted to play a pretty normal girl now,” Lohan explained. “I wanted to have a different kind of role than just the damaged teenager again,” the actor added.
“Mark Waters, the director, was insistent that I play Cady, and so was Tina [Fey]. They’re like ‘no, no, no, you’re the lovable one, you have to play Cady,'” Lohan said. “I was so eager to get into the transitional part of ‘okay, let’s get to the pretty part of Cady.’ It’s just such a lovable movie,” she concluded.
Lohan also revealed how she much preferred the costume choices of her character at the start of the movie. “I got to chill and just relax, and everyone was kinda jealous because I was wearing sneakers and they couldn’t everyday,” Lohan recalled.
Personally, we think the casting choices were absolutely perfect for Mean Girls, and we’re very happy the director went with his gut on this one.