--- description: The director reveals that McAdams didn't talk to LiLo during auditions title: 'Mean Girls' 10 Years Later: Rachel McAdams and Lindsay Lohan image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf4c59079c451546c/698681f606f2c118f032d7d5/lindsay-lohan-mean-girls-rachel-mcadams.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [movies](/tag/movies/) ## movies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 'Mean Girls' Flashback: Rachel McAdams Was Kind of a Regina George to Lindsay Lohan by [Megan Gibson / London](/author/megan-gibson/) ## Megan Gibson / London Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 6, 2014 7:34 PM CUT  From left: Lindsay Lohan, Amanda Seyfried, Rachel McAdams and Lacey Chabert in Mean Girls. From left: Lindsay Lohan, Amanda Seyfried, Rachel McAdams and Lacey Chabert in Mean Girls.Michael Gibson—AP by [Megan Gibson / London](/author/megan-gibson/) ## Megan Gibson / London Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 6, 2014 7:34 PM CUT This year marks a very important anniversary for millennials everywhere: _Mean Girls_ turns ten. The Tina Fey-penned 2004 teen comedy was a smash success, raking in nearly $130 million worldwide. It also marked the apex of Lindsay Lohan’s career and the launch of Rachel McAdams’. But, unlike Lohan’s career, _Mean Girls_ has endured the test of time and — to this day — remains one of the most quotable teen movies of all time. (In a way, the movie sort of _did_ [make “fetch” happen](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pubd-spHN-0 "undefined").) But no matter how many times you’ve watched it, there’s apparently still more to learn about the film. [Vulture](http://www.vulture.com/2014/02/mean-girls-director-spills-10-juicy-stories.html "undefined") asked _Mean Girls_ director Mark Waters to divulge some behind-the-scenes stories and secrets about filming the movie. And no — contrary to the rumors — Scarlett Johansson did not audition for a part. In one of his more interesting reveals, Waters rehashes how Lohan was originally considered for the part of Regina George and McAdams was trying out for the part of Cady Heron. Waters had already decided that the then 24-year-old McAdams was too mature to play the innocent Cady; but when Lohan’s team — confident with the actress’s teen queen status — decided she should play the lead rather than the villain, the film was short one queen bee. So Waters, inspired by the real-life dynamic that he observed between the two actresses, decided that McAdams should play Regina. [According to Waters](http://www.vulture.com/2014/02/mean-girls-director-spills-10-juicy-stories.html "undefined"): --- > “” --- So, essentially, McAdams scored her breakthrough role by being a bit of a real-life mean girl. What went into [the Burn Book](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-4RMv9gGv4 "undefined")? ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4944/mean-girls-rachel-mcadams-lindsay-lohan/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4944/mean-girls-rachel-mcadams-lindsay-lohan/"},"headline":"'Mean Girls' Flashback: Rachel McAdams Was Kind of a Regina George to Lindsay Lohan","datePublished":"2014-02-06T19:34:57.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T06:19:03.376Z","description":"The director reveals that McAdams didn't talk to LiLo during auditions","url":"https://time.com/4944/mean-girls-rachel-mcadams-lindsay-lohan/","keywords":["movies","mean girls","Lindsay Lohan"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf4c59079c451546c/698681f606f2c118f032d7d5/lindsay-lohan-mean-girls-rachel-mcadams.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan Gibson / London"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf4c59079c451546c/698681f606f2c118f032d7d5/lindsay-lohan-mean-girls-rachel-mcadams.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"From left: Lindsay Lohan, Amanda Seyfried, Rachel McAdams and Lacey Chabert in Mean Girls.","caption":"From left: Lindsay Lohan, Amanda Seyfried, Rachel McAdams and Lacey Chabert in Mean Girls.","creditText":"Michael Gibson—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4944/mean-girls-rachel-mcadams-lindsay-lohan/","name":"'Mean Girls' Flashback: Rachel McAdams Was Kind of a Regina George to Lindsay Lohan"}}]}] ```