For over a decade, a Mean Girls reunion has been demanded by fans of the early aughts classic. To many, the comedy is more than a throwback favorite — it's a cultural touchstone and is still as relevant today as it was when it was released in 2004. Well, guess what? We finally got that much-anticipated reunion, but it's not a sequel or a cameo. It's a… Walmart commercial?
A ton of the original cast members returned for a Black Friday commercial for the mega-retailer and provided an update as to where the characters are now. Lindsay Lohan reprises her role as Cady Heron, who is now apparently a guidance counselor at North Shore High School (and still saying grool); Amanda Seyfried returns as Karen, still working as an instinctive reporter, and Lacey Chabert is Gretchen, now mom to a mini-Plastic.
“At North Shore, some things never change,” Lohan-as-Cady says via voiceover. “On Wednesdays, we still wear pink.” The almost two-minute commercial is packed with references to the original movie, from Gretchen's STRDLGRL license plate to a cameo from Rajiv Surendra, who played Cady's fellow Mathlete Kevin Gnapoor, to a cameo from Missy Elliott herself, whose song “Pass That Dutch” is forever associated with the Plastics' slow-motion prowl of North Shore High. And we can't forget Daniel Franzese as Damian, who is now running the Winter Talent Show. Of course.
While some of the cast has gotten together over the years, this commercial is far bigger than an Instagram post or social media shoutout. “It was so nice being back together after all these years. It was great catching up with everyone," Lohan told People of the experience. “It was wonderful to spend the day with Amanda and Lindsay, and it was so much fun getting to reminisce and be together again,” Chabert added.
However, one rather important person was missing from the reunion: Rachel McAdams, who played Queen Bee Regina George. According to Page Six, McAdams did not return to reprise her role as Regina for a very simple reason.
“Rachel McAdams didn’t want to do it,” a source told the outlet. “They were all offered it. But the three of them loved being together for their reunion. They had a great time talking about being moms, and it was definitely a loss not having Rachel there.”
However, it's not as simple as that. Speaking to Variety in December, McAdams revealed that while it's true that she didn't really want to do the commercial, she also didn't really know how big it was going to be. “I guess I wasn’t that excited about doing a commercial, if I’m being totally honest. A movie sounded awesome, but I’ve never done commercials, and it just didn’t feel like my bag,” the actor told the publication. "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.”
What we're choosing to pick from this statement is that McAdams is definitely down for the sequel movie we all want and, sorry not sorry, we'll take that over a commercial any day. While we not-so-patiently wait, we have the various Walmart commercials to satisfy our cravings because, in case you missed it, the retailer dropped a new Mean Girls commercial every single Wednesday from November 1 until Black Friday, November 24, plus an extra one on Cyber Monday, November 27.
You can watch the full Mean Girls Walmart Black Friday commercial for yourself below:
This story was originally published on November 2, 2023. It was updated on December 21, 2023, to include Rachel McAdams's new comments.
