Get in, loser – we’re going to watch the new Mean Girls... Rebooting a cult classic is a risky business, but rest assured that this one actually is so fetch. Based on the Mean Girls musical (which debuted on Broadway in 2018, 14 years after the original movie premiered in 2004), the new film is brought to us by Tina Fey, who masterminded the entire franchise (and who reprises her role as Ms Norbury).
The new Gen Z version is soundtracked by the likes of Olivia Rodrigo and Megan Thee Stallion and, as per the teaser trailer, ‘this is not your mother’s Mean Girls’. Social media acts as the ultimate burn book (though, don’t worry, the OG book features too). Mean girl energy looks a little different, too; it’s less overt, more tactful and sly, an accurate depiction of modern day internet trolling.
There’s a fresh cast of Hollywood’s young and hot of-the-moment talents, among them 18-year-old Disney alumna Avantika, who takes on Amanda Seyfried’s ditzy character, Karen Shetty. Having starred in Rebel Wilson’s 2022 Netflix movie Senior Year and HBO’s Secret Sex Lives Of College Girls, Avantika was invited to audition for the role last year. Three months later, she got the job. ‘I was truly shocked because if you don’t hear back within two weeks, you assume you didn’t get it,’ she says.
She stars alongside Reneé Rapp, who reprises her Broadway role as It girl in charge Regina George, and Bebe Wood, who completes the Plastics as Gretchen Wieners. Meanwhile, Australian actor Angourie Rice fills the shoes of Lindsay Lohan as Cady Heron. Lohan makes a cameo in the new film and there are other ‘Easter eggs’ that nod to the OG film.
Avantika grew up as a dancer, making waves in Bollywood throughout her childhood before moving back to California, where she was born. ‘I loved dancing but I’d seen too many dancers get
a knee injury and be forced to retire at 30,’ she admits. ‘But I loved performing so, when I was 14, my mum gave me one year to try to make an acting career work. One year, or I’d have to become a doctor or a lawyer.’ Things worked out for her when she booked a Disney Channel movie; a rite of passage for any teen actor dreaming of a trajectory similar to the likes of Zendaya.
Despite being only a year old when the original movie was released, Avantika has watched it enough times to recite the script, proving just how much of a cultural touchstone Mean Girls has been, cross- generationally. With that (and a fanbase as fierce as the Beyhive) comes pressure. ‘There’s this stigma around remakes, and I also have qualms with the ones that try to be the original,’ she says. ‘Ultimately, this movie has a very different vibe. It speaks to a new generation and has a lot of Gen Z references, new dialogue and comedic beats, as well as song and dance,’ she adds. ‘It feels like the viewer has been thrown right into it this time around. You’re forced to run around and sing through all of these emotions with us. I hope the audience can feel that.’
‘Mean Girls’ is in UK cinemas from 17 January