15 Surprising Things You Never Knew About "Mean Girls"

1. Lindsay Lohan originally auditioned for the role of Regina George. Lindsay had just finished playing the good girl/outcast in Disney's Freaky Friday and Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, and wanted to play the cool girl for a change. Even though Lindsay really wanted the role of queen bee Regina George, the director of the movie, Mark Waters, had also directed Lindsay in Freaky Friday and felt she was better suited to play the heroine, Cady.

2. And Rachel McAdams had originally auditioned for Cady's part. Can you even imagine these two iconic roles reversed?!

3. Ashley Tisdale auditioned for the role of Karen Smith. Which means the Plastics would have looked like this if she had gotten the role:

4. The cast did a lot of age-bending. Cady Heron and Regina George were supposed to be the same age in the movie, but Rachel McAdams (who played Regina) is actually eight years older than Lindsay Lohan (Cady). And Amy Poehler (who played Regina's "cool" mom) is only seven years older than Rachel McAdams IRL.

5. Regina George's signature long, blonde hair was actually a wig.

6. The Plastics wore skirts made out of plastic during their winter talent show performance of "Jingle Bell Rock." The plastic skirts were meant to represent the Plastics, obvs.

7. There were other secret messages about the Plastics too. In the scene when Cady asks for the bathroom pass, you can see the periodic table on the board behind her, which lists "silicone" as an element. Anyone who's passed chemistry should know the actual element is "silicon". So we can only assume that extra "e" must be a reference to the Plastics, and/or maybe Mrs. George's "rock hard" boob job.

8. James Franco was originally considered to play Aaron Samuels. No one could ever replace Jonathan Bennett as Aaron, but admit it, you could totes have gotten used to James in the role. Here's a visual aid to help you picture him as Cady's hottie crush:

9. Tina Fey ultimately cast Jonathan as Aaron because he looked like Jimmy Fallon. And Jimmy Fallon = dream boat, obviously. Can you even tell the difference between Jonathan and a young Jimmy?!

10. Jonathan made Lindsay blush naturally on camera. Which was obvs another reason he got the coveted role.

11. Mean Girls was based on a parenting book called Queen Bees and Wannabees: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, and Other Realities of Adolescence. Apparently, Tina Fey didn't realize that the book was actually a serious guidebook with a bunch of actual parenting advice, and not a fictional story, until it came time to write the actual script. But not doing her homework paid off, because obviously Tina didn't need any help coming up with an amazing storyline and characters.

12. The movie was originally going to be called Homeschooled. Cady was homeschooled before she moved to America and joined the Plastics, after all. But "homeschooled" doesn't quite capture the mean-girl essence of the movie, right?! This title change was definitely a good choice!

13. Even though the movie was set in Evanston, Illinois, it was actually filmed in Canada. Which must have been nice for Rachel McAdams, since it's her home country and all.

14. There's a deleted scene that wasn't ever filmed where Damian auditioned for American Idol after graduating high school. It's been 10 years since Mean Girls came out, but still, whoever decided not to make this scene a reality needs to be fired. Stat. The world needs Damien singing "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera, part two.

15. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler had to teach Rajiv Surendra how to rap for Kevin G's priceless mathletes rap. Including choreo. Because when you think seasoned rappers, you think Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, right?

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