“Mean Girls” cast guide: Where you may have seen each North Shore High student before

“Mean Girls” became a camp classic in 2004, and its new musical adaptation proves that our love for its unapologetically cunning characters still holds up, regardless of how it has been updated.

In Tina Fey’s reboot, Cady (Angourie Rice) is an awkward, homeschooled girl who spent most of her formative childhood years living in Kenya and convinces her mom to finally move back to the United States so she can have a normal life. However, when she enters North Shore High School and befriends the artistic and musically inclined Janis ‘Imi’ike (Auliʻi Cravalho) and Damian Hubbard (Jaquel Spivey), they begin to educate Cady about the school’s strict social hierarchy. Regina George (Renée Rapp) is the queen bee, who calls all the shots along with the villainous, pink-wearing friends, Gretchen Weiners (Bebe Woods) and Karen Shetty (Avantika), collectively known as the Plastics.

When Cady’s crush on Regina’s ex-boyfriend Aaron Samuels (Christopher Briney) is exploited by Regina to win him back, Janis and Damian convince Cady to plan her revenge. The movie follows the major plot points of the original but amplifies them with the talented, fresh new cast ready to reinvent “Mean Girls” for a younger audience and fans of the Broadway musical.

The reboot has been received well, opening with a $28 million box office its first weekend. It is also estimated to gross a worldwide box office of $34.5 million, from a budget of $36 million, Entertainment Weekly reported. 

Here’s where you can check out the cast in roles before to “Mean Girls”:

Angourie Rice as Siobhan in “Mare of Easttown” (Michele K. Short/HBO)

Before Angourie Rice played the new version of Lindsay Lohan’s homeschooled teenager Cady Heron, the Aussie actor has appeared in a range of projects. The 23-year-old has played opposite A-listers Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe in “The Nice Guys” and in Marvel’s Tom Holland blockbuster “Spider-man” series.  Most recently, Rice starred in HBO’s critically acclaimed series “Mare of Easttown,” playing Siobhan Sheehan, the daughter of Kate Winslet’s detective sergeant character.

Reneé Rapp in “The Sex Lives of College Girls” (Photo courtesy of HBO Max)

For the film, Reneé Rapp reprises the role of Regina George, whom she played on Broadway. Fans may also recognize her wealthy legacy student Leighton on “The Sex Lives of College Girls,” who is trying to live up to her mother’s expectations while also embracing coming out as lesbian. Rapp is also killing the music game as a recording artist. She released her debut album “Snow Angel” last year and plans to play Coachella this spring. 

Auli’i Cravalho as Joss Cleary-Lopez in “The Power” (Katie Yu/Prime Video)Donald Trump and E. Jean Carroll (Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images)Auli’i Cravalho as Joss Clearly-Lopez in “The Power” (Katie Yu/Prime Video)

Auli’i Cravalho’s Janis ‘Imi’ike is an angry scene-stealing, singing queen. Her voice may be familiar to those after she played the lead in Disney’s “Moana.” Cravalho has voiced other animated roles in “Ralph Breaks the Internet” and “Hailey’s On It!” She’s also shown off her singing chops on NBC’s short-lived “Rise” and has starred in Netflix’s “All Together Now” and ‘Hulu’s “Darby and the Dead.” But most recently, the star also has broken into the teen rom-com genre with an endearing queer love story “Crush” starring opposite of Rowan Blanchard, another Disney actor. She also starred in Prime Video’s sci-fi series “The Power,” as one of the world’s many teenage girls who suddenly develop the power to electrocute people.

Jaquel Spivey in “Mean Girls” (Paramount Pictures)

Damian Hubbard’s iconic one-liners like “She doesn’t even go here,” are delivered by upcoming Broadway talent Jaquel Spivey. Before he inhabited the kind, comedic character, Spivey was a part of the critically acclaimed Broadway musical “A Strange Loop.” While Spivey didn’t win best actor at the 2022 Tonys, “A Strange Loop” won best musical. But Spivey didn’t go without recognition from the theatre world. He won a Drama Desk Award for outstanding actor in a musical.

In “Spin,” teenager Rhea (Avantika) discovers a passion for creating DJ mixes (Disney/John Medland)

The perpetually lost and stereotypical air-headed Plastic Karen Shetty is played by Avantika. Before that, the actor has starred in many Indian films in Telugu and Tami languages. But the star’s first American film was a Disney Channel original called “Spin” in which she plays an aspiring high school DJ. She also starred opposite co-star Angourie Rice in the Rebel Wilson-starring raunchy teen comedy “Senior Year.” Avantika is currently producing and starring in a popular dystopian YA series “A Crown of Wishes.”

Bebe Wood as Lake in “Love Victor” (Kelsey McNeal/Hulu)

The film’s sympathetic and high-strung Gretchen Weiners is portrayed by Bebe Wood, who was able to give a nod to her Cuban background in the film. The singer and actor has been working since her childhood in small roles in the Tina Fey sitcom “30 Rock” and even “Veep.” She’s also appeared in Ryan Murphy’s comedy “The New Normal.” the ABC sitcom “The Real O’Neals” and is probably most recognized as Lake, one of the friends Hulu’s heartwarming queer teen drama “Love, Victor” for three seasons.

Christopher Briney as Conrad in “The Summer I Turned Pretty” (Erika Doss/Prime Video)

Christopher Briney, also known as Aaron Samuels, is Gen Z’s newest teen drama heartthrob. Outside of Aaron, Briney stars as the broody Conrad Fisher in the Prime Video’s wildly popular adaptation of author Jenny Han’s “The Summer I Turned Pretty.” As one leg of a love triangle, Briney’s Conrad helped propel the series to massive online popularity hitting billions of views on TikTok and becoming the No. 1 show on the streaming platform after its summer release. Briney was also in the movie “Dalíland” in 2022. 

“Mean Girls” is currently in theaters.