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Rachel McAdams Wasn’t First Pick for ‘Mean Girls’ Character

It has been ten years since Mean Girls starring Rachel McAdams and Lindsay Lohan was first released in theaters. It’s hard to believe that it has been a decade since we first heard the terms ...
Rachel McAdams Wasn’t First Pick for ‘Mean Girls’ Character
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  • It has been ten years since Mean Girls starring Rachel McAdams and Lindsay Lohan was first released in theaters. It’s hard to believe that it has been a decade since we first heard the terms “fugly” and “burn book”–and even harder to believe that we’ve all aged that much. Mean Girls director Mark Waters did an interview with Vulture about the film and discussed a few things that some hardcore Mean Girls fans may not have known, including the fact that McAdams may have been a bit of a mean girl to Lohan.

    The Mean Girls screenplay was written by Tina Fey and was based on the book Queen Bees and Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman. The film was an instant hit, but little do fans know that Lohan was first selected to play the role of Regina George. According to Waters, Lohan was a great fit for the role and was ecstatic about the part.

    “Her energy is a very aggressive, testosterone-laden energy, and that’s exactly what I knew I needed for Regina George,” said Waters. “When I gave it to her, she was like, ‘I f****** love Regina George! This is exactly the part I want to play.’ 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.”

    While Lohan was preparing for her part as Regina, Rachel McAdams was busy trying out for the part of Cady Heron. After seeing McAdams play Regina so perfectly, it’s difficult to imagine her as Cady. The director thought that McAdams was too old for the part and decided to switch Lohan to that role, something the actress was less than thrilled over. “Lindsay kind of begrudgingly said, ‘Okay, I guess I’ll play the lead. At least I get to have more lines,'” Waters said.

    Waters says that the dynamic between Lohan and McAdams was perfect for their new roles, to the point where McAdams kind of came across as a mean girl herself.

    “When Lindsay was acting with Rachel, she got very shy, because Rachel was older and a very accomplished actress,” said Waters. “She’d come in the room and not talk to Lindsay–she was very focused. Lindsay kind of got nervous around her, and I thought that, more than anything, was going to be the deciding factor, the fact that she affected Lindsay in that way.”

    Since Lohan tends to stay in the news these days, most of us know that the past ten years have had a lot of ups and downs for the former Parent Trap star. But, what about Rachel McAdams? The Notebook star has been busy herself, but unlike Lohan, no legal issues have come up. Instead, McAdams has starred in a slew of movies, including the Sherlock Holmes films and The Vow.

    Image via YouTube

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