In honor of Mean Girls‘ digital release, ComicBook.com had the chance to chat with some of the folks involved with making the film. We spoke with the directors, Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr., about some of the film’s musical numbers, and talked to Jaquel Spivey (Damian Hubbard) about representation in the film. Since the new Mean Girls is based on the Broadway musical that was based on the 2004 film that was based on the book Queen Bees and Wannabes, we asked the directors if there are any other musicals they’d like to bring to life on the big screen. While chatting with Spivey, we asked if there are any films he wants to see turned into a musical, and he gave a very interesting answer.
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“Oh my goodness,” Spivey replied when asked if he’d like to see any movies be turned into musicals. “There is a movie that’s kind of unsung, if you will. It’s called Life and it stars Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence, and it’s pretty much about the journey of two men who are dealing with being wrongfully incarcerated. And, of course, when you hear something like that, it sounds like trauma porn, which we’re all very used to at this point, but it’s actually a comedic film and it’s more comedy than it is drama.”
“And I think there is something to watching people find joy in very tough situations, and I think we may need more messages like that,” he continued. “I think sometimes these movies and these musicals make it seem like life is just always perfect and it’s nice to show people finding joy in hard times, like The Color Purple, and in some ways like Mean Girls. There are some difficult things to touch in as far as bullying and self-image, and I think it’s nice to show people coming out of that.”
We also asked Spivey if there are any other Broadway characters he’d want to bring to life on the big screen in the future.
“I don’t know if maybe I’m still too young, even though I was older than Damian, I would love to play Nicely-Nicely Johnson on the screen. I don’t know if anybody’s ever going to do a new Guys and Dolls movie, but I would love for that character to be revamped in a very cool way,” he shared. “And ‘Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat,’ of course, is already iconic. I love the song. I’d like to put my spin on it and I’d like to kind of do… I love doing the opposite, so this being a very contemporary show, I love kicking it old school a little bit for a role like Nicely and giving him a fresh take.”
You can watch our interview with Spivey at the top of the page.
