32 So Fetch 'Mean Girls' Facts You Didn't Know About To Celebrate October 3rd
KEY POINTS
- Mean Girls Day celebrates the iconic moment when Aaron Samuels asks Cady Heron what day it is
- It has been 18 years since the movie's release, but it remains to be relevant
- Some of its most enduring lines and scenes continue to make rounds on the internet
- Tina Fey wanted Rachel McAdams to play Regina as a perfect juxtaposition to her real-life polite nature
Mean Girls Day, October 3rd, celebrates the iconic moment when "Mean Girls" character Aaron Samuels asks Cady Heron what day it is. Though it sadly does not fall on a Wednesday this 2022, fans of the 2004 movie are still celebrating this day annually to commemorate the classic teen flick about the competitive world of high school.
It has been 18 years since the movie's release, but some of its most enduring lines and scenes continue to make rounds on the internet. Let's look at 32 facts about the movie and the cast to celebrate Mean Girls Day.
1. The casting had a "Freaky Friday" moment of its own.
![Regina George and Cady Heron](https://d.ibtimes.com/en/full/3825192/regina-george-cady-heron.jpg?w=736&f=57655b1a9765b8d8a94ca34df16dec99)
Lindsay Lohan wanted to play Regina George, while Rachel McAdams wanted to play Cady Heron.
2. Tina Fey wanted Rachel McAdams to play Regina as a perfect juxtaposition to her real-life polite nature.
![Regina George](https://d.ibtimes.com/en/full/3825177/regina-george.jpg?w=736&f=324e8a1cd6a877ddb718bdae7e295681)
3. Director Mark Waters said Lohan's take on Regina had an "aggressive, testosterone-laden energy" that was hard to match for anyone else playing Cady.
![Cady Heron](https://d.ibtimes.com/en/full/3825188/cady-heron.jpg?w=736&f=de4bf2228774eb99dd49cdfc7d97e42b)
4. The movie was Amanda Seyfried's debut role – and she was supposed to play Regina George. Her version of Regina was "more ethereal ... more frightening, but oddly, less intimidating."
![Karen Smith](https://d.ibtimes.com/en/full/3825180/karen-smith.jpg?w=736&f=c860b61a993d3c2daf3f0593f557a387)
5. Rosalind Wiseman, the author of "Queen Bees and the Wannabees," the book "Mean Girls" was based on, wished the movie "had a more clear stance on homophobia."
![Mean Girls](https://d.ibtimes.com/en/full/2537582/mean-girls.jpg?w=736&f=7074f105d04508ac39af550b1a444717)
Thankfully, the musical fixed this. Wiseman said she's "very proud of it."
6. Fey named the characters in the movie after her real-life friends. Glen Coco was named after her brother, Cady after her college roommate, and Damian after her high school friend.
![Tina Fey](https://d.ibtimes.com/en/full/2540405/tina-fey.jpg?w=736&f=6b64c689e90fd8864bc2df0424f81391)
7. Waters told McAdams to listen to Courtney Love "at high volume" and watch Alec Baldwin in "Glengarry Glen Ross" to channel her inner Regina.
![GettyImages-950973216](https://d.ibtimes.com/en/full/3083792/gettyimages-950973216.jpg?w=736&f=18c2b28561c392c8a02b6810fe809d4b)
8. Lacey Chabert was always going to be Gretchen Weiners. Though Ashley Tisdale was initially considered.
![Gretchen Weiners](https://d.ibtimes.com/en/full/3825183/gretchen-weiners.jpg?w=736&f=de47959f9d2c4d5f85fdb22af399a5f9)
9. The casting team went to four cities to find their Damian, played by Daniel Franzese. The roles of Gretchen and Damian were cast last.
![Damian - Played by Daniel Franzese](https://d.ibtimes.com/en/full/2432431/damian-played-daniel-franzese.jpg?w=736&f=1b95c0ab1ed57039bf5de94109500128)
10. Lizzy Caplan convinced Waters, with her raw talent, that she was perfect to play Janis Ian. Initially, he thought she was too conventionally attractive for the part.
![Janis Ian Played By Lizzy Caplan](https://d.ibtimes.com/en/full/2432428/janis-ian-played-lizzy-caplan.jpg?w=736&f=43cdeb9a5854f90523a974cdc89d6b66)
11. The role of June George, Regina's mother, was written for Amy Poehler. She was only seven years older than her on-screen daughter.
![June George](https://d.ibtimes.com/en/full/3825190/june-george.jpg?w=736&f=f6ab5d22194059692e9931f3524d94ab)
Costume designers put in the effort to make Poehler look like an older woman dressing young.
12. We could have had Blake Lively as Karen Smith...
![GettyImages-1200542621](https://d.ibtimes.com/en/full/3084110/gettyimages-1200542621.jpg?w=736&f=818cb22fa8cc8b3efd8e99f76643c202)
13. ... And James Franco as Aaron Samuels.
![James Franco as Frankie](https://d.ibtimes.com/en/full/2604455/james-franco-frankie.jpg?w=736&f=dbb2541bffdf18704cbbacaaaed28e5c)
14. The original Aaron Samuels was fired, leading to Jonathan Bennett as a last-minute replacement. Fey considered him for his resemblance to Jimmy Fallon.
![Aaron Samuels](https://d.ibtimes.com/en/full/3825185/aaron-samuels.jpg?w=736&f=01f7c3a90412875dc024f221b3811960)
15. The filming of the movie took two months. It was shot in three different schools – Two in Toronto, Canada and one in Montclair, New Jersey.
![Mean Girls movie](https://d.ibtimes.com/en/full/2839095/mean-girls-movie.jpg?w=736&f=7dde3bc14642e2b1b58012f30f49646f)
16. Mariah Carey admitted to being a fan of the film – enough to include a line from the movie in her single "Obsessed."
![In this photo taken on December 17, 2019, US singer Mariah Carey participates in the ceremonial lighting of the Empire State Building in celebration of the 25th anniversary of "All I Want For Christmas Is You" in New York City](https://d.ibtimes.com/en/full/3530260/this-photo-taken-december-17-2019-us-singer-mariah-carey-participates-ceremonial-lighting.jpg?w=736&f=d1ec01c9b7ac30346ccd4b5c195ced52)
17. Ariana Grande parodied the movie in the music video for "Thank U, Next" – featuring actors Jonathan Bennett and Stefanie Drummond.
![lohan grande video](https://d.ibtimes.com/en/full/2736339/lohan-grande-video.jpg?w=736&f=b86e7048a61414410c6027c231d75bc2)
18. The movie's popularity has spawned a video game, a made-for-television sequel and a musical on Broadway.
![Mean Girls](https://d.ibtimes.com/en/full/2705161/mean-girls.jpg?w=736&f=ff7ad9a0cfc741a9d22be34c01542b07)
19. A spin-off based on another book by the same author was planned in 2014 called "Mean Moms," starring Jennifer Aniston.
![GettyImages-1200777248](https://d.ibtimes.com/en/full/3084052/gettyimages-1200777248.jpg?w=736&f=d2a574e5a8e8762a01a8c05f3b3d6cfd)
20. Even the White House, during the Obama administration, used a "Mean Girls" quote.
![Barack Obama](https://d.ibtimes.com/en/full/2568276/barack-obama.jpg?w=736&f=7088eb190b9469a21be7da38ce81b357)
Posted on Twitter, President Obama's dog Bo held a tennis ball with the caption, "Bo, stop trying to make fetch happen."
21. Even in 2020, during the pandemic, "Mean Girls" quotes remained relevant. Ireland's Prime Minister quoted the line "the limit does not exist" during a briefing for the COVID-19 pandemic.
![A scene from Mean Girls](https://d.ibtimes.com/en/full/3825219/scene-mean-girls.jpg?w=736&f=18801b3d7910ed695decad5824697119)
22. "Is your muffin buttered?" was one of the changes made to the script to alter its original R rating to PG-13.
![Lindsay Lohan in Mean Girls](https://d.ibtimes.com/en/full/3825218/lindsay-lohan-mean-girls.jpg?w=736&f=e2b76030115a37c3863953b75930a784)
23. The Christmas performance of "The Plastics" had them wearing skirts out of plastic.
![Will There Be A Mean Girls 3 With The Original Cast?](https://d.ibtimes.com/en/full/2432411/will-there-mean-girls-3-original-cast.png?w=736&f=7f3ea66021414e42bd2aa13e861636bb)
24. "The Plastics" actually never called themselves the famous name.
![The Plastics from Mean Girls](https://d.ibtimes.com/en/full/3825214/plastics-mean-girls.jpg?w=736&f=19afb734505dfc4f75121e08ed6262ea)
25. Fey did make "fetch" happen.
![Tina Fey in Mean Girls](https://d.ibtimes.com/en/full/3825198/tina-fey-mean-girls.jpg?w=736&f=5e90805c0d13b99781405c1d5562808f)
She wanted to add a timeless quality to the film – so she invented the now-popular term among cult fans.
26. The bus accident is foreshadowed twice in the movie.
![Regina George played by Rachel McAdams](https://d.ibtimes.com/en/full/3825195/regina-george-played-rachel-mcadams.jpg?w=736&f=efeb6eedc6d22118aa20cab77790ceb0)
One on Cady's first day when she's not checking the road, and another when she says, "...this one hit me like a big yellow school bus."
27. Fey took lesson plans from her friend's Calculus teacher boyfriend to understand the lines for her role as a math teacher.
![The Math Teacher, Ms. Norbury, Played By Tina Fey](https://d.ibtimes.com/en/full/2432405/math-teacher-ms-norbury-played-tina-fey.jpg?w=736&f=7668c3edb3de1664cf25cbd6c9571381)
28. After playing the role of Damian, Daniel Franzese said even grown men approached him on the streets to thank him for playing the part.
![Mean Girls](https://d.ibtimes.com/en/full/3825212/mean-girls.jpg?w=736&f=4bb13b29eaa18f56fb4716d9f5cd21a7)
"This was a natural and true representation of a gay teenager—a character we laughed with instead of at," he said. Franzese came out publicly as gay a decade after the movie – thanking Damian for giving him the confidence.
29. Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Evan Rachel Wood passed on the "Mean Girls" audition. Winstead's mother read the movie script but thought the humor was "too raunchy" for her taste.
![Actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead poses at the premiere of "Like Crazy" at the Egyptian theatre in Hollywood, California](https://d.ibtimes.com/en/full/71773/actress-mary-elizabeth-winstead-poses-premiere-quotlike-crazyquot-egyptian-theatre.jpg?w=736&f=d39a2377600f81e60c42ec524693833f)
30. Actor David Reale, known to the world as Glen Coco, was never paid for his role.
![The Plastics from Mean Girls](https://d.ibtimes.com/en/full/3825216/plastics-mean-girls.jpg?w=736&f=f239cca551c0898c0cceb0bc8c67bb8f)
He was never officially hired; he just hung around on the set for the free food.
31. Gretchen's speech about The Plastics' rules was straight out of the book.
![The Burn Book from Mean Girls](https://d.ibtimes.com/en/full/3825209/burn-book-mean-girls.jpg?w=736&f=d0c028f56091fe6499031f50b508945a)
32. Costume designers collected yearbooks from small towns to create the movie's wardrobe.
![Mean Girls class](https://d.ibtimes.com/en/full/3825207/mean-girls-class.jpg?w=736&f=7036d9577fa843ca38d66dde4e91fc6f)
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