Jenna Fischer Joins the Mean Girls Musical Movie Cast

The cast the new Mean Girls musical film, based on the Tony-nominated Broadway play, is shaping up. Angourie Rice, Renée Rapp, Auli’i Cravalho and Jaquel Spivey will join the ensemble cast as Cady, Regina, Janis and Damian, respectively (Regina’s sidekicks, Gretchen and Karen have yet to be cast).

Now, Emmy-nominated Jenna Fischer, best known for playing Pam on NBC’s The Office for nine seasons, has been cast in the role of Cady Heron’s mom (Ana Gasteyer played the role in the original film).

Fans of the 2004 film will also be delighted to know that Tina Fey is involved in more ways than one; in addition to producing the film along with Lorne Michaels, and writing the adaptation, she’ll also be reprising her role as hapless math teacher Ms. Norbury. Tim Meadows will also be playing his original character of jaded Principal Duval.

Fey made the announcement on Late Night with Seth Meyers on February 16, quipping, “Teachers work forever. I want it to be like when Gilligan from Gilligan’s Island would be at a trade show and you’d be like, ‘Oh, he looks so old in his little hat.’ That’s my goal.” Unlike other SNL alum, Fey isn’t particularly known for her singing voice, but that might be okay. The character only appeared on one song in the Broadway production.

The Mean Girls musical, which was also written by Fey, had a successful run on Broadway from its premiere in 2018 to 2020 when it closed due to the pandemic. The film version will stream on Paramount+.

Rice has a comedic background, most recently starring in the dark comedy Honor Society and alongside Rebel Wilson in Netflix’s Senior Year. She’ll play Cady Heron, hapless newcomer to North Shore High originally brought to life by Linsday Lohan.

Rapp is one of the breakout stars of HBO Max’s Mindy Kaling-created hit Sex Lives of College Girls, currently in its second season. She also just released her first solo EP, Everything to Everyone, and will take on Rachel McAdam’s role as queen bee Regina George. She’ll come into the project with a leg up, having previously played the role on Broadway.

Another singer-actress, Cravalho voiced the titular character in Disney’s hit animated movie Moana. She also was in Netflix’s All Together Now and played Ariel in ABC’s The Little Mermaid Live production. She’ll play Janis Ian (Lizzy Caplan), the moody misfit who helps Cady launch a plan to take down the Plastics.

And Spivey is a minted Broadway star himself, making his professional debut as lead role Usher in the Pulitzer Prize winning A Strange Loop, which is currently finishing up its Broadway run. Spivey will play Damian, initially portrayed by Daniel Franzese as Janis’ best friend.

Of course, that still leaves plenty of iconic roles asides from Ms. Norbury and the rest of the Plastics to fill. The school’s resident hearth throb Aaron Samuel, Principal Duvall, “hormonal” mathlete Kevin Gnapoor and, of course, Mrs. “Cool Mom” George all figure into the musical as well.

There’s no release date yet (filming begins May 6), but stay tuned for updates as more cast announcement roll in.