I'll live and breathe "Mean Girls" quotes until the day I die, and it pains me to say this, but...the original cast did not impress with their little scene recreation. Rachel McAdams, Lindsay Lohan, Lacey Chabert and Amanda Seyfried got together via video call for a quick read of *that* phone call scene from the 2004 film, and, well -- I was less than into it.
They really could have done a lot more with this. Superimposing the clip from the film over the best parts -- Karen's fake cough, for instance -- was disappointing, their timing was kind of off (we'll give them a break on that and chalk it up to the weirdness of Zoom) and Seyfried, though she put more character into it than the others, was splayed on a bed with her head in her hands the whole time, looking kind of bored.
At least McAdams got to say that iconic line at the end.
Not to mention that this is actually the second "Mean Girls" recreation video to grace Instagram's presence over the last few weeks. Actresses Chloë Grace Moretz ("If I Stay") and Sarah Ramos ("Parenthood") recently teamed up to act out the same scene, and they come out on top over the actual film's actual cast. They each played two different parts, with Ramos even donning a red wig as Lohan's character Cady and Moretz biting into a baguette while she emulated Regina George's munchies (damn those Kälteen Bars).
They dressed accordingly, went all in on their facial expressions and Moretz nailed the ditzy breathiness of Karen Smith's voice.
There's no comparison -- this vid beat out the OG mean girls'. I know it's been a while, ladies, but you don't really have anything else going on right now! Put some effort in!
Their sub-par performance also comes after a fuller cast reunion, which included those core four along with Jonathan Bennett (Aaron Samuels), Tina Fey (Ms. Norbury, plus the film's screenwriter), Daniel Franzese (Damian) and more. Bennett recently told E! News that it felt a little...awkward.
"Because here's the thing...we haven't all been together in 16 years, and to all be together for the first time, and do it on Zoom -- already it's awkward to see each other for the first time; you want to say so many things -- but then when you're on a Zoom call, it's even more awkward because you're waiting for the person to talk and you don't want to interrupt."
So, perhaps the Plastics just had a hard time getting back into their flow. But, I mean, isn't that acting?