Insane Parallels Between Amanda Seyfried and Her ‘Mean Girls’ Character Will Make You Grateful Blake Lively Lost the Role

Amanda Seyfried’s popularity has surged in recent times, thanks to social media fueling the fire of the classic movies that kickstarted her career. From Mamma Mia! to Mean Girls, Seyfried rose to newer heights with each movie she did back in the 2000s.

Another up-and-coming actress at the time was Blake Lively, who had her breakout role in The Sisterhood of Traveling Pants to Gossip Girl. Both actresses have had a very different filmography but there’s one string that connects them.

Here’s why Amanda Seyfried was the best choice to play Karen

Blake Lively is best known for her Gossip Girl role as Serena van der Woodsen. The eccentrically rich and entitled teen girl has now become a cornerstone of pop culture and a character people will remember for eternity. However, it seems like Lively’s career trajectory would have been completely different had she been a part of Mean Girls, in a role that eventually went to Amanda Seyfried.

Fans loved Seyfried as Karen, a lovable yet dumb girl who is a part of the central gang of catty teenagers. From fancy couture to quirky metaphors, Karen has also become a significant part of the pop culture prevalent in today’s time. Lively and Seyfried are iconic in their own ways today, but their careers would have looked different had Lively landed Karen’s role. Seyfried recalled in an interview with Vanity Fair,

I’d flown out to LA for the first time with my mother. It was very exciting. I met Lacey Chabert for the first time, and Lindsay Lohan was in the room, and Blake Lively was playing Karen, and then I was Regina. I flew home, and they were like, ‘We think you’re more correct for Karen.’ So I was like, ‘Oh God, okay, sure.’ I think I got Karen because I played that person in high school in order to stay out of the drama.

Mean Girls would have looked entirely different with Seyfried as Regina George and Lively as Karen. The makers, thankfully, made the right call in terms of casting, which is a substantial reason why Mean Girls has become a cult classic today. Moreover, as Seyfried mentioned, her role as Karen resonated with her because she had gone through a similar situation in real life. The Jennifer’s Body actress was just 17 years old when Mean Girls came out, coinciding with the time she was in high school.

Amanda Seyfried shares her experience filming Mean Girls

The movie needs no introduction as it managed to change the cinema landscape with an ingenious story. It explored all aspects of a typical high school experience with cliques and reigning queen bees, bullying, and securing the popularity contest among peers. As much fun as the movie was, Seyfriend shares it was more fun making Mean Girls. She reminisced,

I don’t know how we created our dynamic as the Plastics. We all came from such different places. We were different ages. Lindsay and I were closer in age. Lacey was just a few years older and Rachel was a few years older than Lacey. I remember the feeling of everybody really wanting to be there and really appreciating the ingenious of the script. I remember everybody having a lot of fun. There was just a vibe. They, they cast it right. We were all pretty cool people, pretty happy people. And Mark Waters is an an amazing director. He just, he made it so fun.

Fans are happy Seyfried managed to secure the role of Karen as the entire vibe of the movie would have been off without her. Mean Girls has also spawned reboots, hence proving the enduring relevance of the story.

Mean Girls is streaming on Netflix.