Mean Girls (2024) may be Arturo Perez Jr. and Samantha Jayne’s feature film directorial debut, but they have been lifelong fans of the original movie. Their enthusiasm for Tina Fey’s hit movie also extends to the 2016 Broadway adaptation, which the newest adaptation incorporates. Though it was originally based on Rosalind Wiseman’s guidebook for parents Queen Bees and Wannabes, Mean Girls has become an unstoppable force on its own, dominating popular culture two decades later.
Mean Girls (2024) follows Cady Heron, the naive heroine who was homeschooled in Kenya before entering high school in the United States. Before she can even prove her math prowess, she finds herself embroiled in a cold war between her new friend Janis (Auli’i Cravalho) and the Queen Bee of the school, Regina George (Reneé Rapp). Other cast members include Avantika and Bebe Wood as the other two Plastics, Jaquel Spivey as Janis’ best friend Damian, and Christopher Briney as Regina’s ex Aaron.
Mean Girls 2024 – Release Date, Cast, Trailer & Everything We Know
Tina Fey is bringing Broadway to the big screen in the Mean Girls (2024), and there’s already much to discuss before the movie releases.
Screen Rant interviewed Arturo Perez Jr. and Samantha Jayne about how they approached their work on the new Mean Girls, the process of cutting some of their favorite songs from the Broadway musical, and the importance of Janis’ individual storyline in the movie.
Arturo Perez Jr. & Samantha Jayne Talk Mean Girls (2024)
Screen Rant: I really enjoyed this rendition of Mean Girls as a fan of the original and an avid Broadway enjoyer. I know that it was a shock to you guys to receive the offer to do this, but how quickly did you start coming up with ideas and what was it that you wanted to stand out in this adaptation?
Samantha Jayne: Immediately. We were so stoked. I mean, Mean Girls has been in my DNA since I was in high school, so I knew how much it meant to so many people. And then also we had seen the Broadway show and we had loved it as theater fans and Mean Girls fans.
I think this story is so ripe to be updated today, especially with social media that didn’t exist back in 2004. What kids are dealing with today can be translated so well using the story, so it was just really fun being able to dive deeper into the characters through musicality too and kind of making this really immersive. I think the original did such a beautiful job, and now we’re able to really go deep into these characters through these musical sequences and offer a really immersive perspective, which is how high school feels. High school feels so personal. There’s no, like, no, it’s just business in high school. It’s like you just get gutted every two seconds.
Arturo Perez Jr.: Yeah. I mean, the first time you get betrayed; the first time you fall in love. It’s the first time you’re feeling a lot of these feelings, so it’s massive.
Samantha Jayne: And your prefrontal cortex hasn’t fully developed yet. So it’s just, “What is going on?”
Arturo Perez Jr.: Everything is everything.
The movie trims down the song numbers and replaces “It Roars” with “What Ifs,” and I think for the most part it creates a good flow for the movie. Can you walk me through the process of what gets to be part of the story? What songs serve the story best and why?
Arturo Perez Jr.: In Broadway, you have a lot more time. You have a lot more time. And that’s why Broadway is so delicious and that’s why Broadway is incredible and we’re not trying to replace the Broadway show. I think that literally we just had to [think], “What are the songs that serve the story that we’re trying to tell?” It’s all about story. And there were tears shed for songs, like “Stop.”
Samantha Jayne: I love “Stop” so much.
Arturo Perez Jr.: Everybody was just like, “Do we need to? Do we absolutely need to?”
Samantha Jayne: I know. We just poured one out. But honestly, also, I mean, we’re massive Broadway fans. We understand, but it’s also there were songs that were big homages to old Broadway in the Broadway version. And I think what the music team did so beautifully is kind of update the palette, refresh it to come from more of a pop place. And so that’s where some of these decisions came from as well. What would resonate with the new audience that hasn’t necessarily seen the show?
I feel like it must be super hard to not compare each character to the 2004 counterpart. How do you as directors kind of avoid the trap of being like you need to be a little bit more or less like the originals in this moment?
Samantha Jayne: It was all in the casting, honestly. That never crossed my mind just because the actors really brought their own thoughts and preparations and selves to the characters. I think that was the most important thing in casting, which is, okay, we are not trying to replicate the original at all when it comes to these characters and their affectations and how they portrayed these people. “How would you do it? What’s your take on it? How do you embody this character and this feeling and performance?”
Arturo Perez Jr.: That’s what’s so great about this cast is that not only are they phenomenally talented, but they’re phenomenally brave because it’s like each of these characters are iconic. It must have been something that they wrestled with and stuff, so I think they also came very prepared.
And having lots of those conversations because the cultural zeitgeist will have them for them, if not. They all made brave choices and they stuck with them. And I think that’s what makes this movie shine. Yeah.
Speaking of which, I already loved how Janis’s sexuality was incorporated into the Broadway production, and I thought that the movie even elevated it a step further maybe because of Auli’i’s performance but also just the way that Janis’s story was told. Can you guys talk about leading up to that confession, and how it helps “I’d Rather Be Me” resonate more?
Samantha Jayne: It was really important to Tina, we know, for her to tell a story that felt personal and authentic and layered. And she has two teenage girls. She is around teenagers. She understands what hits now and what feels real. So it was really in Tina’s writing. And “I’d Rather Be Me” is such a brave anthem. And I think knowing Janis’s embarrassment and shame and struggles and eventual triumphs over those things just makes that song all the more euphoric and anthemic. So I really love that Tina really dimensionalized Janis’s world in that kind of way with that backstory.
Mean Girls is infinitely memeable and we are still referencing it today. Hopefully, that will also be the case with this interpretation. But is there a moment that stands out most to you that still keeps you laughing?
Arturo Perez Jr.: I think Damian has a ton. I think that everybody has a ton. Gary has a ton, Auli’i, Reneé, I mean, everybody. It’s for the internet to figure out which.
Samantha Jayne: We’ve seen the movie a million times now, obviously, and we have not stopped quoting this movie. Also, just personally after truly having seen this movie more times than we can count every single time during “Revenge Party” when Damian’s handing the candy cane and [flicks]. I just die.
Arturo Perez Jr.: Every time. Every single time.
Now that you guys have bodied Mean Girls and stepped into the moving musical adaptation of musicals based on movies, is there another Broadway show that you would like to tackle?
Arturo Perez Jr.: I would love to talk to my hermano, Lin-Manuel Miranda. That’s the one. But we’ll get there.
Samantha Jayne: We’re massive fans of Lin.
Arturo Perez Jr.: We’re massive fans of Hamilton. And we know every single [song]. That would be it.
Finally, what would you like to explore next outside of musicals? What’s the next step in your film trajectory?
Samantha Jayne: We wrote a feature we’ve been working on for quite a bit that we’re excited about. It’s an ensemble story about friendship. It’s a lot of fun, and we’re excited about that one.
Arturo Perez Jr.: Three years. It’s a crazy ride, and it’s about friendship. It’s a really fun ride called 10 Days in Tulum.
About Mean Girls
From the comedic mind of Tina Fey comes a new twist on the modern classic Mean Girls. New student Cady Heron (Angourie Rice) is welcomed into the top of the social food chain by the elite group of popular girls called “The Plastics,” ruled by conniving queen bee Regina George (Reneé Rapp) and her minions Gretchen (Bebe Wood) and Karen (Avantika). However, when Cady makes the major misstep of falling for Regina’s ex-boyfriend Aaron Samuels (Christopher Briney), she finds herself in Regina’s crosshairs. As Cady sets out to take down the group’s apex predator with the help of her outcast friends Janis (Auli’i Cravalho) and Damian (Jaquel Spivey), she must learn how to stay true to herself while navigating the most cutthroat jungle of all: high school.
Check out our other interviews with:
- Tina Fey
- Angourie Rice, Auli’i Cravalho & Jaquel Spivey
- Reneé Rapp & Christopher Briney
- Avantika & Bebe Wood
Mean Girls (2024)
Mean Girls is a reimagining of the 2004 classic comedy film as a musical, directed by Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr. When Cady Heron and her family move from Africa to the United States; she experiences a culture shock when she enters the public school system for the first time. While trying to fit in, she is roped into the popular but superficial and cruel clique, the Plastics.
- Release Date
- January 12, 2024
- Director
- Samantha Jayne , Arturo Perez Jr.
- Cast
- Angourie Rice , Auli’i Cravalho , Jaquel Spivey , Reneé Rapp , Jon Hamm , Ashley Park , Jenna Fischer , Tina Fey , Tim Meadows
- Rating
- Not Yet Rated
- Genres
- Comedy , Musical
- Writers
- Nell Benjamin , Tina Fey
- Story By
- Tina Fey
- Studio(s)
- Broadway Video , Little Stranger , Paramount Pictures , Paramount Players
- Distributor(s)
- Paramount Pictures
