Follow The Lead

I was watching Mean Girls (2004) for the first time since it came out and was surprised to see so many familiar faces. It's a pretty good teen comedy, with a screenplay by Tina Fey, that concentrates on high school girls. As such, they hired quite a few names who'd become big. Or at least bigger.

First, there's Rachel McAdams as the main mean girl, who'd go on to star in The Notebook, Wedding Crashers and Sherlock Holmes. As another meanie, there's Lacey Chabert, who'd been a child star and has been working regularly since. A further meanie, to my surprise, was Amanda Seyfried, who's since been in Mamma Mia! and Letters To Juliet. And I was pleased to see, as a freakier girl, Lizzie Caplan, who starred in Cloverfield and is a regular in my favorite new (canceled) sitcom Party Down.

For that matter, Fey, who plays a teacher, has seen her acting career on an upswing, winning Emmys for 30 Rock and starring in movies like Baby Mama and Date Night.

Ironically, the one career that's been in deep trouble is that of the lead, Lindsay Lohan. I suppose she may make a comeback, but her career, as well as her life, has been unraveling since the movie.