If you’re going to step into a new version of a film as universally known and loved as “Mean Girls,” you need to be ready for a lot of pressure. And, in reality, Angourie Rice wasn’t totally sure she was ready when she got offered the lead role of Cady Heron. So, she needed to take a beat before accepting.
The new version of the film, in theaters now, is an adaptation of the Broadway musical that was based on the original 2004 film. That means the 2024 version of “Mean Girls” contains a little bit of old, a little bit of new and a whole lot of songs. It still follows Cady Heron (Rice) as she attends Northshore High School after being homeschooled her entire life, and falls in with the popular girl clique.
The role of Cady was originated by Lindsay Lohan, and with her iconic shoes to fill, Rice was immediately nervous about even trying to take on the role.
“It actually wasn’t an automatic yes,” Rice admitted to TheWrap. “Because I was so nervous, and I was so apprehensive. I was like, ‘I don’t know if I can do this, if I can handle the pressure.’ And it took me a little while to decide.”
In fact, Rice even went so far as to take a bit of a straw poll among the people in her life to see if she should accept the part.
“I surveyed people! I told my family and my neighbors, I was like ‘Geez, what do you think? Can I handle it? Is it going to be great?’” Rice recalled. “And my sister said to me, ‘Why would you not do it? Why would you not?’ And then I was like ‘OK, yeah, actually, that’s so true. Why would I not do this?’ So I decided to just go for it and let go of any apprehension.”
She continued, “And really, I did it because because I love ‘Mean Girls’ and because I have so much love for this story, and these characters, and I knew that this reimagining of the story was coming from a place of love. And that, with Tina [Fey] behind it, it was going to be fantastic.”
You can watch TheWrap’s full interview with Angourie Rice here.
“Mean Girls” is out in theaters everywhere now.
