Paramount Pictures has announced a new casting for its upcoming Mean Girls Musical. Busy Philipps will join the cast of the anticipated musical based on the Tony-nominated Broadway show of the same name. According to Deadline, Philipps will take on the role of Mrs. George, the mother of Regina George, leader of the mean girls' group, Plastics.
Philipps is best known for her roles in comedy movies, and she has starred in popular rom-coms like I Feel Pretty, He’s Just Not That Into You, and Made of Honor. The actress also starred in popular comedy shows like Vice Principals, and Judd Apatow’s Freaks and Geeks. Philipps also won a Critics Choice TV Award for a Supporting Role for the sitcom Cougar. She currently stars in the comedy series Girls5eva.
Although the Mean Girls Musical will be based on the Broadway show, which premiered in 2018, the Mean Girls universe comes from the non-fiction self-help book by Rosalind Wiseman, Queen Bees and Wannabes, which was adapted into an original feature written by Tina Fey and directed by Mark Waters, leading to the inspiration behind the Broadway show. The musical, like its predecessors, will follow high school new girl Cady Heron (Angourie Rice), a role played by Lindsay Lohan in the original feature and Erika Henningsen on Broadway. As the new girl, Cady will attempt to fit in with the popular girl squad known as Plastics, after concocting a scheme with her friends Janis and Damian to bring down Plastics.
The upcoming musical will be directed by Arturo Perez and Samantha Jayne from a screenplay penned by Fey who will also reprise her role as Ms. Norbury, which she played in the original hit comedy movie. Lorne Michaels will return to produce the musical alongside Fey. Jeff Richmond and Nell Benjamin will handle the film's music.
Who Is Starring in 'Mean Girls the Musical'?
Alongside Fey, Tim Meadows will return as Principal Duval, Renée Rapp will play Regina George, the leader of Plastics, the role originated by Rachel McAdams; Auli’i Cravalho will play Janis Ian, originated by Lizzy Caplan; Jaquel Spivey will play Damian Hubbard, originated by Daniel Franzesel Avantika will play Karen, originated by Amanda Seyfried; Bebe Wood plays Gretchen, a role originated by Lacey Chabert; and Jenna Fischer plays Mrs. Heron, who was played by Ana Gasteyer in the first film.
Mean Girls Musical does not have a release window yet. In the meantime, watch the original movie, streaming on Paramount+. Check out the trailer below: