Mean Girls was the ‘totally fetch’ high school movie, written by Saturday Night Live star Tina Fey and distributed by Paramount Pictures, that was a big hit at the box office in 2004. It starred Lindsay Lohan as protagonist Cady Heron during the height of the actress’ fame, and the film also featured plenty of supporting cast members who have gone on to do great things since Mean Girls was first released.
The story followed new girl Cady as she moved back to America after spending 12 years in Africa. Upon arrival at North Shore High School, Cady quickly teams up with Janis and Damian – who hatch a plan for her to infiltrate ‘the Plastics’. The Plastics are the ultimate bitchy clique, led by the film’s blonde-haired, blue-eyed villain Regina George.
With Grease and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off already under its belt, Paramount Pictures clearly picked another gem of teen cinema with Means Girls.
What happened to the Mean Girls cast?
Everybody in the early 2000s could relate to Mean Girls in some way, and the film ended up making over $129 million worldwide, including $86.1 million at the US box office. The movie gained a cult following on its original release but has recently risen to prominence again thanks to a number of former castmates becoming highly-successful A-Listers. For Amanda Seyfried in particular, this is where she got her start in the movies!
In the article below, we take a look at where the Mean Girls cast members are now. Find out which cast member surprised everyone by coming out as gay. Enjoy!
1. Lindsay Lohan – Cady Heron
Lindsay Lohan’s career hit its peak with the release of Mean Girls.
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She was hotly tipped to be a rising star after Freaky Friday (2003), also from director Mark Waters, and this high-school comedy only cemented her reputation as a hot young actress to watch. She played newbie and nature lover Cady Heron, who infiltrates the Plastics but nearly ends up becoming one herself.
Sadly after Mean Girls was released, Lindsay Lohan never quite reached the same heights and instead she embarked on a very public battle with drug addiction and alcoholism.
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After starring in a few average movies such as Herbie: Fully Loaded (2005) and Just My Luck (2006), Lohan became more known for her wild partying ways and diva behaviour. She was arrested for DUI several times and has been involved in a number of car accidents.
However, Lohan has recently started to make a comeback with the launch of her own MTV reality show entitled Beach Club. It follows the antics of her employees as she attempts to open two successful night clubs in Greece.
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Lindsay Lohan is currently trying to rebrand herself as an entrepreneur, and her Los Angeles nightclub businesses appear to be doing well. However, as of yet it’s unclear how popular her reality show is. What day can you watch it on? October 3.
2. Tina Fey – Ms. Norbury
Ms. Norbury is the kind of teacher everyone wanted during their school days.
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She was really kind and encouraging but didn’t take crap from her students either. Tina Fey portrayed the 12th-grade calculus teacher and Mathletes coach who was on the receiving end of her own spiteful entry in the Burn Book. In the end, she got together with Principal Duvall!
Tina Fey not only starred in Mean Girls – she also wrote the entire movie! Her SNL mentor, Lorne Michaels, served as executive producer. Fey also wrote the musical adaptation of the film which premiered in 2018 and earned her a Tony Award nomination.
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Fey has starred in a host of successful films since 2004, including Baby Mama (2008) and Date Night (2010). Besides her success in movies, TV shows have also shown off Fey’s talents.
She created 30 Rock in 2006 and it lasted for seven years until 2013 – Fey starred in the lead role as Liz Lemon, a head writer at NBC. She’s also the creator of sitcom The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt!
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You may also have seen Fey in her various returns to Saturday Night Live, included her inspired casting as former Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin during the 2008 presidential election.
3. Rachel McAdams – Regina George
Everybody knows a Regina George.
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And Rachel McAdams arguably entered pop culture history as the vindictive and plain mean head of the Plastics. Regina George manipulated her own friends into doing what she wanted and generally tried to make everyone feel insecure next to her.
As Damian once said to Cady, “she’s fabulous but evil”. Since starring in Mean Girls, Rachel McAdams’ career has gone from strength to strength.
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Rather than just being considered as a teen movie star, McAdams is now a ‘serious’ actress – she starred in The Notebook opposite Ryan Gosling in the same year as Mean Girls and has since appeared in films such as Sherlock Holmes (2009) and About Time (2013).
McAdams’ most recent film work was in 2018 with the black comedy movie Game Night. She dated her Notebook co-star Gosling for a while but things didn’t work out for the pair.
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The Canadian actress currently splits her time between Toronto and LA – in April 2018 she gave birth to a baby boy with her partner Jamie Linden. No word yet on whether she’s managed to make fetch happen!
4. Amanda Seyfried – Karen Smith
Karen Smith had some of the most hilarious lines in the entire movie.
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She was an exaggerated portrayal of the dumb cheerleader type – Karen had a ‘fifth sense’ and used her breasts to work out what the weather was like. Although Amanda Seyfried was only a supporting actress in Mean Girls, she’s since gone on to build her own hugely successful career.
In fact, today’s generation probably know her better as Sophie Sheridan in the hugely successful Mamma Mia! franchise.
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Seyfried gained household name status thanks to her all-singing, all-dancing performance in the two films, which were released in 2008 and 2018 respectively.
She went on to appear in 2011’s Red Riding Hood which starred Gary Oldman, and she’s had a successful career in television with lead roles in programmes such as Veronica Mars and Big Love.
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Seyfried has dated actors Dominic Cooper and Justin Long, before finding love with her Last Word co-star Thomas Sadoski. She gave birth to their daughter in 2017.
5. Lacey Chabert – Gretchen Wieners
Gretchen Wieners was the third Plastic member, and yet another girl who lived to try and please Regina.
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She was the pink jumper-wearing rich girl who loved to gossip – her dad invented Toaster Strudel, after all. Despite being Regina’s sidekick, Gretchen shows herself to be kind-hearted at times, with her malicious side coming out only when the Plastics leader was around.
Lacey Chabert’s performance was Gretchen was definitely ‘fetch’, but what has the actress been up to since starring in Mean Girls?
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Lacey Chabert has gone on to carve out a career for herself in Hallmark movies, and she’s currently starred in over 17 productions by the TV channel to date!
She hasn’t really done anything too spectacular since Mean Girls though, and she is currently working on a TV project entitled The Crossword Mysteries.
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Chabert is a devout Christian who is married with a daughter. She and her family live in LA.
6. Daniel Franzese – Damian Leigh
Daniel Franzese portrayed the stereotypical gay best friend in the Paramount Pictures triumph Mean Girls.
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Damian Leigh was Janis’ best friend and a kind-hearted guy, although not averse to gossiping himself from time to time. His friendship with Cady goes through a rough patch but they manage to get over it in the end.
So what has Franzese been up to since starring in Mean Girls? If you think you haven’t seen him in that much since the comedy was released, then it’s not surprising really…
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Franzese’s career hasn’t quite hit the same heights as some of his co-stars and instead he’s turned into a jobbing actor who acquires regular TV roles.
The actor officially came out in 2014, exactly ten years since appearing in Mean Girls, and he’s been a vocal advocate for LGBT rights in the media.
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Apparently the actor was engaged to a stylist named Joseph Phillips but they recently broke off their engagement in 2018.
7. Lizzy Caplan – Janis Ian
Lizzy Caplan is another amazing success story to come out of the Mean Girls cast.
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She played Janis Ian, the goth and general dark soul who turned out to be Regina’s ex-best friend. She was subject to a particularly hurtful entry in the Burn Book and temporarily fell out with Cady when Janis’ plan to infiltrate the Plastics fell through.
Like Rachel McAdams, Lizzy Kaplan has now turned into a ‘serious’ actress thanks to her appearance in the critically-acclaimed TV series Masters of Sex as Virginia Johnson.
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Most people don’t realise that Caplan dated Friends actor Matthew Perry from 2006 to 2012. She recently married English actor Tom Riley in 2017.
Caplan is currently filming a new television project entitled Are You Sleeping which is due for release in the next year or two.
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She also just starred in Extinction in 2018.
8. Jonathan Bennett – Aaron Samuels
Everybody knows an Aaron Samuels.
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Aaron, the ex boyfriend of Regina, was Cady’s love interest in Mean Girls and he seemed to be the star of every sporting team at North Shore. Fey definitely had the stereotype of the dumb jock when she was writing Aaron, but we’re not complaining – he wasn’t bad to look at. He’s also made October 3 forever the most fetch day in the calendar – as we’ll never forget how Cady falls for him while telling him it’s October 3, as he makes the briefest of small talk.
Actor Jonathan Bennett has had a fairly average acting career since starring in this classic movie. After starring in Cheaper by the Dozen 2 in 2005, his career faltered and he went on to do Hallmark movies rather than blockbuster films.
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Jonathan Bennett appeared in the 2019 series of Celebrity Big Brother.
Fans of Bennett may be surprised to learn that the actor recently came out as gay.
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He is currently in a relationship with Celebrity Page host Jaymes Vaughan.
9. Amy Poehler – Regina’s mom
Amy Poehler nearly stole the show as Regina’s hilariously inept mother, Mrs George.
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She wasn’t a regular mom, she was a ‘cool mom’ and seemed to be living vicariously through her teenage daughter, the perfect foil for Lindsay Lohan as Cady. Her dog also had a creepy habit of chewing on Mrs George’s fake breasts (maybe that’s why this film is a PG 13).
Of course, Mrs George was portrayed by none other than hit comedian Amy Poehler, who has gone on to star in a number of hilarious comedy films and TV programmes. She’s hosted the Golden Globes and worked on a wide variety of hugely successful TV and movie projects.
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She starred in Parks and Recreation from 2009 to 2015 in the lead role of Leslie Knope, and also co-starred with her ex-husband Will Arnett in several projects, including Blades of Glory and Arrested Development.
At the moment, Poehler is single and ready to mingle following her divorce from Arnett in 2016.
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She’s currently working on a film project entitled Wine Country and recently starred in an episode of Making It as herself.
10. Tim Meadows – High School Principal Ron Duvall
And last but not least, who can forget Principal Ron Duvall?
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He was the headteacher just trying to keep a school full of hormonal teenagers under control, something which often proved very difficult.
Duvall also clearly had a crush on Ms Norbury and accidentally caught a glimpse of the calculus teacher in her bra at one point in the movie!
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Duvall was portrayed by Tim Meadows, who has appeared in a number of different TV programmes since Mean Girls was first released.
He’s had guest appearances in shows such as Brooklyn Nine Nine and currently stars as Principal Glascott in Schooled.
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There must be something about Duvall that reminds people of head teachers!
11. Ana Gasteyer – Cady’s Mom
In this iconic Paramount Pictures film, Cady’s mom was always trying to be supportive during her daughter’s move back to the USA.
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But fans of the movie will always remember the heartbreaking moment when Betsy comes home after the party to find that the fertility vase of the Ndebele tribe has been severely damaged during the festivities!
Whoops…that really was the moment that Cady realised what a fool she had been. Ana Gasteyer brought the moment to life – so what has she been up to in recent years?
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In the years following Mean Girls, Gasteyer starred in a number of different comedies that weren’t really as popular Tina Fey’s classic comedy.
However, she has also had guest appearances in a number of popular TV shows including The Good Wife, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Girls.
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She also stars in her own Youtube series entitled Going There With Gasteyer.
12. Neil Flynn – Cady’s Dad
Neil Flynn played Cady’s long-suffering dad in the cast.
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He had to deal with the fact that his teenage daughter was turning into somebody very different at North Shore High School, while also making sure that she didn’t run into any trouble.
Flynn is most recognisable to audiences around the world as the Janitor on Scrubs, a role he played from 2001 to 2009.
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Like Gasteyer, Flynn has popped up in some of the most popular shows on US television, including CSI, Smallville and NYPD Blue.
Nowadays Flynn is diving head first into the world of voice acting. Since appearing on Mean Girls, he’s voiced characters in King of the Hill and Bob’s Burgers, amongst many others.
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He is about to star in a new comedy series entitled Abby’s which will premiere on NBC in March 2019.
13. Rajiv Surendra – Kevin Gnapoor
Kevin Gnapoor was the Mathlete with a knack for chatting up the ladies.
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Despite being classed as a typical high school geek, he didn’t lack in confidence and definitely had a thing for Janis.
Rajiv Surendra nearly stole the show as the smooth-talking Mathlete, but since his appearance in Mean Girls, Surendra seems to have turned his back on the world of acting.
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Instead he is an artist and currently lives in Manhattan – he specialises in pottery, painting and chalk.
Surendra also gained attention for his critically-acclaimed book entitled The Elephants In My Backyard, which was released in 2016.
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The book was a memoir which traced his failed efforts to bag the lead role in The Life of Pi. Surendra was determined to get the role after noting several striking similarities between himself and the lead character.
14. Daniel DeSanto – Jason
Daniel DeSanto played Jason in Mean Girls…
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…And his douche bag character didn’t really endear Jason to the majority of the film’s female fans. He was a typical high school jock who tried to make Cady uncomfortable on her very first day with a very dumb ‘muffin’ joke.
It later transpired that Jason was Gretchen’s on-off boyfriend, but somehow he just couldn’t seem to stop cheating on her.
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DeSanto has had a fairly unimpressive career since he appeared in Mean Girls – he’s starred in a string of unsuccessful films and hasn’t quite managed to make his mark in Hollywood.
The Canadian actor does have a regular acting gig as one of the cast members of PAW Patrol.
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He has voiced the character of Daring Danny X since 2016.
15. Diego Klattenhoff – Shane Oman
Shane Oman was Regina’s hot boyfriend.
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We have no idea why everyone was so hung up on Aaron Samuels, because Shane was the real bad boy in the film who tidied up very nicely at the high school prom.
OK so he came off a bit slow but still, we could definitely see why he caught the attentions of Regina George.
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Anyway, in the movie he was portrayed by actor Diego Klattenhoff. Diego might look familiar to a lot of today’s generation thanks to his appearance as Mike Faber in Homeland.
He’s managed to work with some exciting directors over the years – Diego starred in J.J. Abrams’ Anatomy of Hope and also appeared in Pacific Rim (directed by Guillermo del Toro).
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His last film appearance was in 2017’s Radius and the actor currently lives in NYC with his wife.
16. Alisha Morrison – Lea Edwards
Remember Lea Edwards?
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She only appeared briefly in the movie as a member of the Unfriendly Black Hotties clique, but Edwards was yet another girl who seemed to be inexplicably in love with Regina George.
Her most memorable moment in the movie comes when she wears a vintage skirt that her mom gave her – Regina compliments the clothing item before turning to Cady and stating that is “the ugliest effing skirt I have ever seen”.
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So what did Alisha Morrison do after having the honour of being insulted on-screen by Rachel McAdams?
It looks as though Morrison gave up on her acting dream a few years after appearing in Mean Girls.
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She starred in some little-known television programmes and her last acting credit is in 2011’s The Listener.
17. Ky Pham – Trang Pak
Fans of the movie will definitely remember Trang Pak.
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Trang Pak had one of the most infamous entries in the Burn Book, after it was revealed that she had been making out with Coach Carr in the school auditorium.
Eventually she gets into a fight with her fellow ‘Cool Asian’ clique member when it’s confirmed that Sun Jin Dinh also had a fling with the sports coach.
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Ky Pham was the actress who portrayed Trang in the movie, so where is she now?
Pham is no longer an actress and only appeared in one other movie after Mean Girls.
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Since bagging a minor role in 2005’s The Last Hit it looks as though Pham has turned her back on the entertainment industry.
18. Dwayne Hill – Coach Carr
Dwayne Hill played the creepy Coach Carr at North Shore High School.
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Although Carr was only a minor character, he managed to bag some of the most hilarious scenes in the movie, especially the one involving his highly questionable STD talk.
He turned out to be a creep after making out with several female students. In fact, the last anyone saw of Coach Carr, he was fleeing from North Shore after the revelations came out in the Burn Book.
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You won’t believe how different actor Dwayne Hill looks since his appearance on Mean Girls…
It’s like a totally different person! And Hill has certainly kept himself busy since appearing on-screen in the high school classic.
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Hill is one of the most prolific voice actors around – he has provided voices for over 20 animated series and voices well over 100 commercials every single year. Wow! You’ve probably heard him without even realising it.
19. Wai Choy – Tim Pak
Tim Pak was another one of the super-cool Mathletes.
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He’s a firm member of the Asian Nerds clique, despite the fact that Tina Fey later confirmed in DVD commentary that Tim is Trang’s older brother!
He also has the honour of driving the bus which takes the Mathletes to their championship. So what has actor Wai Choy been up to since Mean Girls?
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Choy has turned to directing since 2004 and starred in his own 2009 project entitled This Is Life.
Choy has also worked as a production assistant on various other projects, so it looks as though he’s still interested in other aspects of Hollywood outside of acting.
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This makes sense, especially when you consider that Choy graduated from the prestigious Tisch school in New York.
20. Julia Chantrey – Amber D’Alessio
Remember Amber D’Alessio?
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Another great supporting character written in by Tina Fey, D’Alessio fell victim to the Burn Book after the Plastics claimed that she ‘made out with a hot dog’. Cue the famous line:
D’Alessio also featured early in the film during one of the cafeteria scenes, when Regina and co are pointing out the ‘Burnout’ clique who all seem to enjoy smoking pot and not doing any work.
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In reality, actress Julia Chantrey looks very different to her on-screen counterpart:
Chantrey has experienced success in Canadian television since her Mean Girls role, and has received a couple of awards in the past.
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She is best known for 2013’s Mama and the TV series Total Drama.
21. Stefanie Drummond – Bethany Byrd
Poor old Bethany Byrd.
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Unfortunately, she’s a fully paid-up member of the ‘Desperate Wannabes’ clique, which basically means that she spends half her life copying the Plastics.
Byrd’s hilarious one-liners made her a fan favourite – who can forget the time she gushed about being punched in the face by Regina?!
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Then there was her outburst in the school auditorium: “Somebody wrote in that book that I’m lying about being a virgin because I use super-jumbo tampons, but I can’t help it if I’ve got a heavy flow and a wide-set vagina!”
Byrd was portrayed by actress Stefanie Drummond, who has had a varied career since Mean Girls.
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She appeared as Sheila in the critically-acclaimed movie Spotlight in 2015, which also starred Rachel McAdams. She also has a starring role as Charlotte in the TV series Ladies Like Us.
22. Sharron Matthews – Joan the Secretary
Who can forget Joan the Secretary?
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She was Principal Duvall’s loyal assistant and often despaired at the goings-on at North Shore High School. Her most famous line in the movie comes right after the Burn Book is released: “They’ve gone wild, the girls have gone wild!”
She also admits in the movie that she used to be a victim of bullying herself, which might explain why she’s so exasperated by the Plastics’ behaviour.
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Sharron Matthews was great as Joan in the movie, but she’s had an interesting career since appearing in the cult film.
Matthews is a comedian and cabaret star who has appeared in shows the world over, including the prestigious Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
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She is currently starring in CBC’s Frankie Drake Mysteries.
23. Jo Chim – The Sears girl
And last but not least, we’ve included ‘the Sears girl’.
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Jo Chim stars briefly as the saleswoman who notices that Regina can’t fight into her usual size of dress.
The Plastic is on the receiving end of the ultimate put-down when Chim’s anonymous character says that maybe she should ‘try Sears instead’.
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Yikes! Chim starred in one of the Resident Evil movies in the same year as Mean Girls, but since then she’s not really appeared in anything noteworthy.
Were you a fan of Mean Girls? Let us know in the comments section!
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