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# ‘Mean Girls’ Could’ve Looked Very Different

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<!-- video src="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/CrrZdqTu.m3u8" -->
## Video: ‘Mean Girls’ Could’ve Looked Very Different

[Watch (HLS stream): ‘Mean Girls’ Could’ve Looked Very Different](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/CrrZdqTu.m3u8) (1:39)

![‘Mean Girls’ Could’ve Looked Very Different](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/CrrZdqTu/poster.jpg?width=720)

_Published 2014-02-07. ‘Mean Girls’ turns 10, and the director’s spilling big secrets. Vulture caught up with Mark Waters, the director of the modern high school classic, and he confessed that the film could’ve looked a whole lot different._


---

Jul 27, 2023 4:12 PM UTC

---

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---


## Transcript

Mean Girls turns 10 and the director's spilling big secrets. Vulture caught up with Mark Waters, the director of the modern high school classic and he confessed that the 2004 film could've have looked a whole lot different. Lindsay Lohan was originally supposed to play Regina George, Rachel McAdams' queen bee character, not Cady Heron. " Her energy is a very aggressive, testosterone- laden energy, and that's exactly what I knew I needed for Regina George. So we did a read- through, and we were trying to look for somebody to play the role of Cady, but frankly, we didn't find anyone we liked who felt strong enough to go up against Lindsay ." That's when the casting shake- up went down.

Executives looked at the success of Waters and Lohan's first collaboration the Disney hit Freaky Friday and decided that LiLo should be the lead. Interestingly enough, Rachel McAdams originally read for the part of Cady, Waters said that Lohan was actually intimidated by McAdams in real life, which worked well for their onscreen relationship. And there's more to this story. Amanda Seyfried who played dim, bold Karen Smith was almost Regina. McAdams' ability to make Lohan nervous was the deciding factor. So, 10 years, time for a reunion, right? Well, Lohan and co- star Daniel Franzese, who played Damian, recently caught up in NYC.

Instagraming this will call it fetch picked together. But our fingers are still crossed. The cast will get back together in full may be for Entertainment Weekly's annual reunions issue. We can dream. What we do know is that more mean girls will be coming our way in the near future. Screenwriter Tina Fey is in the process of turning the movie into a Broadway musical-- how gruel. Thanks for watching. I'm Brice Sander.

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