15 Years Later Check Out The ‘Mean Girls’ Cast Now

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Fifteen years ago, the Mean Girls cast shattered the “popular girl” trope when we were introduced to the Plastics. Written by comedian Tina Fey with an iconic appearance from Amy Poehler, Mean Girls followed Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan), a girl who grew up in Africa and was homeschooled by her parents. However, after her family relocates to an Illinois suburb –Cady finds herself struggling to fit in with her cliquey public school. She also finds herself equally disgusted and intrigued by the Plastics. Helmed by the H.B.I.C. Regina George (Rachel McAdams) who is fawned over by her bestie Gretchen Wieners (Lacy Chabert) and the obtuse Karen Smith (Amanda Seyfried), Cady slowly finds herself turning into the very girls that she vowed to destroy.

When Mean Girls premiered in 2004, it exploded –creating quippy one-liners that we still use today like, “She doesn’t even go here!” and “You can’t sit with us!” The movie also catapulted several actors who were relatively unknown at the time into the spotlight. By the time Lohan put on Cady’s pink polo, she’d already had a lengthy career in Hollywood. However, Mean Girls put the spotlight on McAdams, Seyfried, and Lizzy Caplan who were relatively unknown up until that point. Here’s what the Mean Girls cast is up to 15 years later.

Lindsay Lohan as Cady Heron

Lindsay Lohan was already a megastar by the time she slid into Cady Heron’s patent leather pumps. She’d stolen our hearts way back in 1998 as twins Hallie and Annie in Disney’s The Parent Trap. Mean Girls debuted at the height of Lohan’s fame. Unfortunately, the movie would also mark the end of her A-list status. Shortly after the film premiered, she began to spiral out of control — partying, acting erratically, and allegedly getting hooked on drugs before stepping away from Hollywood completely.

These days, Lohan seems to be doing much better. She’s back in the spotlight with her new MTV reality series Lindsay Lohan’s Beach Club which follows the ins and outs of her beach club in Mykonos, Greece. La Lohan has also been vying for the role as Ariel in the live-action version of The Little Mermaid –but we don’t think she’s on Disney’s list.

Rachel McAdams as Regina George

It’s hard to imagine a time before Rachel McAdams was a power-house in the entertainment industry. However, before she became the “half virgin” Regina George whose infamous burn book still makes the best memes –McAdams was relatively unknown. Two months after terrorizing Gretchen Wieners for wearing hoop earrings, McAdams went on to steal everyone’s hearts when she appeared opposite Ryan Gosling in The Notebook. Since then–McAdams has starred in everything from Marvel’s Doctor Strange to Spotlight which garnered her an Academy Award nomination in 2016. Up next, the new mom is set to reprise her role as Irene in Sherlock Holmes 3.

Amanda Seyfried as Karen Smith

Admittedly, Amanda Seyfried’s Karen Smith looked flummoxed and confused for the majority of Mean Girls. However, Seyfried used Karen’s confounding quotes and oblivious attitude to her advantage. Like McAdams, Seyfried would use Mean Girls to get a leg up in the industry.

Seyfried would go on to star in the critically acclaimed HBO series, Big Love –both Mama Mias opposite Meryl Streep, and she also snagged a role as Cosette in Les Misérables. In 2017, Seyfried married actor Thomas Sadoski, and they welcomed their first child together. In 2020 she is set to voice Daphne in the animated film Scoob, based on the beloved cartoon, Scooby-Doo.

Lacey Chabert as Gretchen Wieners

Lacey Chabert was relatively well known before she became the toaster strudel princess, Gretchen Wieners in Mean Girls. Chabert had starred on the acclaimed series Party of Five for years, and also voiced Eliza Thornberry on Nickelodeon hit, The Wild Thornberrys. After Mean Girls –Chabert has done a ton of voiceover work and appeared in numerous Hallmark films. However, she’s mostly focused on her growing family and has stayed out of the tabloids. 

Lizzy Caplan as Janis Ian

These days, we recognize Lizzy Caplan for the legend that she is. However, before Mean Girls –she was known for her small roles in Freaks and Geeks and Smallville. Playing Janis Ian just proved how badass Caplan really is.

We always knew that Janis was the real star of Mean Girls. After all –she was the original choreographer of the “Jingle Bell Rock” dance before Regina stole it. Caplan took her role as the gothy outsider and ran with it. The Emmy Award nominee went on to appear in Cloverfield, True Blood, Bachelorette, and Masters of Sex among others.

Jonathan Bennett as Aaron Samuels

Jonathan Bennett slayed as Regina George’s man candy Aaron Samuels who also became the object of Cady’s affection. Though he’s best known for Mean Girls, he also went on to appear in Veronica Mars and on All My Children. Bennett still looks sexy with his hair pushed back –and now he’s even selling Mean Girls-themed rosé to go with your Wednesday nights. Wednesday Rosé by Jonathan Bennett is actually a thing, and you can purchase two bottles along with Bennett’s The Burn Cookbook if you’re a true Mean Girls fan. Did you spot him in Ariana Grande’s “thank u, next” video?

Daniel Franzese as Damian

Mean Girls found the most iconic Santa Clause with Daniel Franzese as Damian.  Damian was Janis’ bestie who was eager to welcome Cady into their fold. He also had some of the most legendary lines in Mean Girls. Though Franzese has gone on to star in Looking, Recovery Road, and Conviction— we’ll always love him for Mean Girls. The film was extraordinarily important for him personally. He revealed that the movie helped him come out of the closet because of the love and support that he received from fans.

From elevating stars to breaking others into the industry, after all this time, Mean Girls is still pretty damn “grool” to us.