Mean Girls Movie Musical Adds Emily in Paris Star
The Mean Girls movie musical cast keeps growing, and we couldn't be more excited. It was previously announced that the 2017 stage musical based on the movie of the same name was being adapted into a film for Paramount+. This week, it was announced that The Office alum Jenna Fischer would be joining the musical as Ms. Heron, the role that Ana Gasteyer played in the original 2004 film. It was also revealed that Girls5eva star Busy Philipps has been cast as Mrs. George, the role originated by Amy Poehler. Now, ET is reporting that Emily in Paris' Ashley Park will have a cameo role in the film.
Park actually originated the role of Gretchen Wieners in the Broadway musical, which earned her a Tony nomination for Best Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical. In the original film, Gretchen was played by Lacey Chabert. In the new film, the role will be played by Love, Victor's Bebe Wood. "I WILL be making fetch happen," Wood wrote on Instagram when the casting news was announced.
In addition to Park and Wood, the new Mean Girls movie will also star Angourie Rice (Spider-Man: Far From Home) as Cady, the role originated by Lindsay Lohan in the film. The movie will also feature Reneé Rapp (Sex Lives of College Girls) as Regina George, a role she also played on Broadway, as well as Auli'i Cravalho (Moana) as Janis, and Jaquel Spivey (Broadway's A Strange Loop) as Damian. Other cast members include Avantika (Senior Year) and Christopher Briney (The Summer I Turned Pretty). Recently, Tina Fey confirmed that she will also be featured in the film alongside Tim Meadows.
What Mean Girls Role Almost Went To Blake Lively?
Blake Lively got her big break playing Bridget in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants back in 2005, and her popularity grew when she was cast as Serena ver der Woodsen in Gossip Girl in 2007, but she almost rose to fame slightly earlier. The star was up for the part of Karen in Mean Girls (2004), which ultimately ended up going to Amanda Seyfried. Seyfriend recently revisited some of her most famous roles for Vanity Fair and talked about her audition for Mean Girls which included Lively.
"I'd flown out to L.A. for the first time with my mother. It was very exciting," Seyfried shared. "I met Lacey Chabert [Gretchen Wieners] for the first time, and Lindsay Lohan [Cady Heron] was in the room, and Blake Lively was playing Karen, and then I was Regina." She added, "I flew home, and they were like, 'We think you're more correct for Karen.' .... So I was like, 'Oh god, OK, sure.'"
In a previous interview with Cosmopolitan UK, Mean Girls casting director Marci Liroff revealed that Lively was a top pick to play Karen. "She came down to the final tests but, at some point, some of the filmmakers said to keep looking," Liroff explained. "Amanda Seyfried had read for Regina, and we really liked her, but then [film producer] Lorne [Michaels] suggested, 'Why don't we make her Karen?'"
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