January 21, 2024
Saturday Night Live/Youtube
Rachel McAdams made a surprise appearance during the latest episode of 'Saturday Night Live' to introduce a musical performance by Reneé Rapp. Both actresses have played the role of Regina George in the 'Mean Girls' franchise.
The first "Saturday Night Live" episode of 2024 featured not one, but two actresses who have played the "Mean Girls" queen bee, Regina George.
"Mean Girls" movie musical star Reneé Rapp was the musical guest for the Jan. 20 episode, which was hosted by actor Jacob Elordi. Ahead of her performance of "Not My Fault," a song from the movie musical's soundtrack that features rapper Megan Thee Stallion, Rachel McAdams — who starred in the original "Mean Girls" film from 2004 — unexpectedly popped up to introduce Rapp.
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In the "Mean Girls" movie musical, which premiered Jan. 12, Rapp plays Regina George, ruthless leader of the "Plastics" clique, reprising the role she also played in the Broadway musical version of "Mean Girls." McAdams originated the role of Regina George in the 2004 film. Both films, and the Broadway musical, were written by Tina Fey, an Upper Darby-native "SNL" alum.
Despite a few members of the original movie and Broadway casts reprising their roles or guest starring in the "Mean Girls" movie musical, McAdams did not make a cameo.
“Tina and I sort of dabbled with a few ideas, but it was tough to make it all work in the end,” McAdams told Variety in December. “I was really down for whatever she wanted to do. I think the direction it went in will be fantastic and I cannot wait to see it.”
She also did not reunite with her 2004 "Plastics" — Lindsay Lohan, Amanda Seyfried and Lacey Chabert — when they reprised their "Mean Girls" roles for Walmart's Black Friday campaign last fall.
“I guess I wasn’t that excited about doing a commercial if I’m being totally honest,” McAdams told Variety. “Also, I didn’t know that everyone was doing it. I would, of course, always love to be part of a ‘Mean Girls’ reunion and hang with my plastics, but yeah, I found that out later.”
Perhaps McAdam's "SNL" appearance supporting Rapp was her nod to the franchise's revival. McAdams, Rapp and Megan Thee Stallion — who refers to herself as the "Black Regina George" in "Not My Fault" — even recreated the Spider-Man meme.
Huhhhh ?!?! All thee Reginas in one room 🤭 pic.twitter.com/s1OPz27PFZ
— TINA SNOW (@theestallion) January 21, 2024
McAdams also joined the "Acting Class" sketch, playing an actress named Natalie Partman who is struggling to obtain roles because her name sounds like Natalie Portman's and she looks "strikingly like Rachel McAdams."
"Yeah, I keep hearing that, which is kind of annoying because I'm just not really a fan of (McAdam's)," McAdams said during the sketch.
The Jan. 20 episode, available to stream on Peacock, also featured a cold open with cast member James Austin Johnson as Donald Trump, and the cold open included some quips about the new "Mean Girls" movie. Throughout the episode, there were also sketches about celebrity lip-readers, Alaska Airlines, "short kings" and cast member Bowen Yang's recurring character Garrett from Hinge.
The next new episode of "SNL" will air on Saturday, Jan. 27 on NBC, with host Dakota Johnson and musical guest Justin Timberlake.
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