THEN AND NOW: Here's what the 'Mean Girls' cast is up to 17 years later (2024)

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Olivia Singh

Updated

2020-11-17T16:43:00Z

THEN AND NOW: Here's what the 'Mean Girls' cast is up to 17 years later (1)

"Mean Girls" was released in April 2004.
The teen classic starred Lindsay Lohan as Cady Heron and Rachel McAdams as Regina George.
Nowadays, McAdams still acts and Lohan has branched out to entrepreneurship.
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Anjelica Oswald contributed to a previous version of this article.

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Lindsay Lohan was already an established star before playing new girl Cady Heron.

THEN AND NOW: Here's what the 'Mean Girls' cast is up to 17 years later (2)

Lohan's first film role was as a child actress in "The Parent Trap." Before "Mean Girls," she was in the Disney Channel movies "Life-Size" and "Get a Clue" and continued in other Disney hits "Freaky Friday" and "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen."

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Her career has since had some ups and downs.

THEN AND NOW: Here's what the 'Mean Girls' cast is up to 17 years later (3)

The same year "Mean Girls" came out, Lohan released a debut album. Some run-ins with the law, including charges of driving under the influence and cocaine possession, as well as some stints in rehab slowed her career.

She appeared in commercials for Lawyer.com and has opened VIP clubs and restaurants in Greece. Lohan also shocked fans when she filmed herself harassing a homeless family and accusing them of human trafficking.

Her MTV reality show, "Lindsay Lohan's Beach Club" premiered in January 2019, and took place at Lohan Beach House in Mykonos, Greece. It was reportedly canceledafter one season and the titular beach house looks like it's no longer in business, based on itsTripadvisor page.

These days, Lohan is keeping busy in Europe. She opened two nightclubs in Greeceand starred on the British show "Sick Note."

She now lives in Dubai and considers it safer than America. In a June 2018 interview with The New York Times, the actress-turned-entrepreneur revealed that she is in the process of designing her own island in Dubai.

In April 2020, Lohan returned to the music scene with anew track called "Back to Me."

The actress also reunited virtually with the "Mean Girls" cast in 2020.

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Rachel McAdams rose to fame as mean girl Regina George.

THEN AND NOW: Here's what the 'Mean Girls' cast is up to 17 years later (4)

She graduated with a theater degree from Canada's York University in 2001. Her Hollywood film debut was in "The Hot Chick," where she starred alongside Rob Schneider and Anna Faris.

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The actress was nominated for an Oscar for "Spotlight" and her most recent projects include "Disobedience" and "Game Night."

THEN AND NOW: Here's what the 'Mean Girls' cast is up to 17 years later (5)

She's also well known for starring in "The Notebook," Guy Ritchie's "Sherlock Holmes," Marvel's "Doctor Strange," and was on the second season of "True Detective." Most recently she starred alongside Will Ferrell in "Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga."

The actress welcomed her first son with boyfriend James Linden in 2018 and went on to speak about motherhood in an interview with The Sunday Times UK.

"It's the greatest thing that's ever happened to me, hands down," she said. "[People say] your life is not your own anymore. But I had 39 years of me, I was sick of me, I was so happy to put the focus on some other person."

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Lacey Chabert had some of the most memorable lines as Gretchen Wieners.

THEN AND NOW: Here's what the 'Mean Girls' cast is up to 17 years later (6)

Chabert's first major role was on "Party of Five." She also voiced Eliza Thornberry on "The Wild Thornberrys."

Chabert is now a Hallmark movie queen.

THEN AND NOW: Here's what the 'Mean Girls' cast is up to 17 years later (7)

She has been in more than 10 Hallmark moviesand was also in "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past."

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Amanda Seyfried made her movie debut as the ditzy Karen Smith.

THEN AND NOW: Here's what the 'Mean Girls' cast is up to 17 years later (8)

Before that, she did stints on the soap operas "As the World Turns" and "All My Children."

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Seyfried earned an Oscar nomination for her role as Marion Davies in David Fincher's "Mank."

THEN AND NOW: Here's what the 'Mean Girls' cast is up to 17 years later (9)

Other projects of hers include shows "Veronica Mars" and "Big Love" and musical movies "Mamma Mia!" and "Les Misérables." She was also in "Gringo" and starred alongside Milo Ventimiglia in 2019's "The Art of Racing in the Rain."

Seyfried also appeared in the "Twin Peaks" revival, returned for "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again," and voiced Daphne in an animated movieabout Scooby-Doo called "Scoob!" with Zac Efron.

She married Thomas Sadoski in March 2017 and welcomed a daughter later that month.

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Lizzy Caplan's turn as Janis Ian was one of her earliest film roles.

THEN AND NOW: Here's what the 'Mean Girls' cast is up to 17 years later (10)

Before that, she was known for her role on "Freaks and Geeks."

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Caplan played Annie Wilkes on season two of Hulu's "Castle Rock."

THEN AND NOW: Here's what the 'Mean Girls' cast is up to 17 years later (11)

She also earned an Emmy nomination for "Masters of Sex" and is reported to appear in the upcoming "Gambit."

Some of her other roles include "True Blood," "New Girl," "Cloverfield," and "The Disaster Artist."

Most recently, she costarred on the new Apple TV Plus series "Truth Be Told" with Octavia Spencer and Aaron Paul.

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Jonathan Bennett will forever be remembered for asking what day it was on October 3 as Aaron Samuels.

THEN AND NOW: Here's what the 'Mean Girls' cast is up to 17 years later (12)

Before that, he had small parts on shows like "All My Children" and "Boston Public."

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Bennett has hosted Food Network's "Cake Wars" and released a cookbook called "The Burn Cookbook: An Unofficial Unauthorized Cookbook for Mean Girls Fans."

THEN AND NOW: Here's what the 'Mean Girls' cast is up to 17 years later (13)

In addition to hosting the baking show, Bennett has appeared on reality TV shows like ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" and "Celebrity Big Brother."

He also appeared in movies including "Cheaper by the Dozen 2" and on shows including "Hit the Floor." He starred in "The Last Sharknado: It's About Time" and starred in "The Haunting of Sharon Tate."

Bennett also reprised his "Mean Girls" role for Ariana Grande's "Thank U, Next" music video.

In November 2020, the actor revealed that he's engaged to his partner, Jaymes Vaughan

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Daniel Franzese played Damian, the hilarious best friend.

THEN AND NOW: Here's what the 'Mean Girls' cast is up to 17 years later (14)

His first part ever was in 2001's "Bully."

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He was on episodes of "Glow" and "S.W.A.T." and went on a comedy tour called "Yass, You're Amazing."

THEN AND NOW: Here's what the 'Mean Girls' cast is up to 17 years later (15)

Some of his bigger roles were on "Looking" and "Recovery Road." He also starred on ABC's short-lived drama "Conviction" in 2016.

He is the creative director and co-owner of The Winston Box, a subscription clothing service for "big and tall men."

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Daniel DeSanto played Jason, a jerk most memorable for getting a boom box kicked into his face.

THEN AND NOW: Here's what the 'Mean Girls' cast is up to 17 years later (16)

DeSanto was known for acting on "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" and voicing a character on "The Magic School Bus."

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He's since done other voice work, including a part on the kid's show "PAW Patrol."

THEN AND NOW: Here's what the 'Mean Girls' cast is up to 17 years later (17)

He was also on an episode of "Man Seeking Woman" and in "Little Italy."

More recently, he also had a minor role on an episode of "Schitt's Creek."

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Rajiv Surendra broke it down as mathlete and rapper Kevin Gnapoor.

THEN AND NOW: Here's what the 'Mean Girls' cast is up to 17 years later (18)

His acting debut was on the Canadian series "System Crash."

He has left acting and published a memoir in 2016 titled "The Elephants in My Backyard."

THEN AND NOW: Here's what the 'Mean Girls' cast is up to 17 years later (19)

He wrote the memoir about his failed attempts to score the lead role in the movie "Life of Pi." He now works as a potter, painter, calligrapher, and chalk artist.

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Diego Klattenhoff played Regina George's boyfriend Shane Oman.

THEN AND NOW: Here's what the 'Mean Girls' cast is up to 17 years later (20)

He started his career with small parts on "Doc" and "Mutant X."

He stars on "The Blacklist."

THEN AND NOW: Here's what the 'Mean Girls' cast is up to 17 years later (21)

He was also on "Homeland" and in "Pacific Rim."

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Tina Fey wrote the screenplay and starred as teacher Ms. Sharon Norbury in the comedy.

THEN AND NOW: Here's what the 'Mean Girls' cast is up to 17 years later (22)

She started her professional career writing for and starring on "Saturday Night Live."

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She's a cocreator on NBC's "Great News" and Netflix's "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt."

THEN AND NOW: Here's what the 'Mean Girls' cast is up to 17 years later (23)

She's a two-time Golden Globe winner for "30 Rock," which she created and starred on. Her film roles include "Date Night," "Sisters," and "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot."

Fey also wrote the book for the "Mean Girls" musical and is in the process of adapting the play for a film.

The actress appeared on an episode of Joe Jonas' travel show for the now-defunct app Quibi called "Cup of Joe" and starred on the show "Modern Love."

In 2021, she co-hosted the Golden Globes with Amy Poehler.

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Tim Meadows played principal Ron Duvall.

THEN AND NOW: Here's what the 'Mean Girls' cast is up to 17 years later (24)

He began his career with a 10-season stint on "Saturday Night Live."

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His most recent roles include starring on "The Goldbergs" and its spin-off, "Schooled."

THEN AND NOW: Here's what the 'Mean Girls' cast is up to 17 years later (25)

His many comedic roles include voicing a character on "Bob's Burgers" and starring in "Trainwreck," "Grown Ups," and "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story."

He also starred on "Man With a Plan" and guest-starred on "Brooklyn Nine-Nine."

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Amy Poehler was "cool mom" Mrs. George.

THEN AND NOW: Here's what the 'Mean Girls' cast is up to 17 years later (26)

Poehler was known for "Saturday Night Live" and starred in the cult favorite "Wet Hot American Summer" before starring alongside "SNL" friend Tina Fey in "Mean Girls."

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Poehler currently stars on the Fox sitcom "Duncanville," which got renewed for a third season.

THEN AND NOW: Here's what the 'Mean Girls' cast is up to 17 years later (27)

Poehler also won a Golden Globe for her hilarious turn as Leslie Knope on "Parks and Recreation."

She has guest-starred on "Difficult People," acted alongside Will Ferrell in "The House," and reprised her "Wet Hot American Summer" role on Netflix's "Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later."

The actress also hosted "Making It" with Nick Offerman and starred in the movie "Wine Country" with Fey.

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Ana Gasteyer appeared as Cady's mom.

THEN AND NOW: Here's what the 'Mean Girls' cast is up to 17 years later (28)

She was another "Saturday Night Live" alum who starred in the movie.

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She was recently on "The Goldbergs."

THEN AND NOW: Here's what the 'Mean Girls' cast is up to 17 years later (29)

She's had roles on "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "Suburgatory," "Schooled," and "Lady Dynamite." She also voiced characters on "Voltron" and "The Lion Guard."

In addition, the actress competed as the tree on season two of "The Masked Singer."

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Neil Flynn was best known as the janitor on "Scrubs" when he played Cady's dad.

THEN AND NOW: Here's what the 'Mean Girls' cast is up to 17 years later (30)

He also starred in movies including "Rookie of the Year" and "Anchorman" and voiced a character on "Clone High."

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He recently starred on "Abby's."

THEN AND NOW: Here's what the 'Mean Girls' cast is up to 17 years later (31)

The NBC show was canceled though.

He also voiced a character on "Vixen" and starred on "The Middle."