The original Mean Girls is, obviously, a classic — and Lizzy Caplan’s performance as Janis Ian is one of the reasons why the film has endured to this day.
As it turns out, however, Lizzy’s role was never a foregone conclusion. During a recent appearance on the Podcrushed podcast, the actor revealed that she had to basically fight to grab the role during the “very, very long” audition process: “It was just the funniest script I had ever read. I wanted to be in it so bad. I fought so hard and then it worked out.”
Lizzy went on to explain that everyone who went through the audition process had to initially try out for the two main roles — Cady (Lindsay Lohan) and Regina George (Rachel McAdams) — before being “sorted” for callbacks. “I went in and they were resistant to casting me,” she said.
Lizzy then revealed that, initially, none other than Kelly Osbourne was the studio’s initial choice to play Janis. But with the help of a Canadian hairdresser, Lizzy pulled together the role’s iconic look to nab the part once and for all.
“We went to Hollywood Boulevard and put on dark wigs and just anything to send them screen grabs of me looking like a goth kid,” she recalled.
“I don’t remember how long the process was, but I remember getting the phone call and where I was when I got the phone call that I got the part. How many times has that really happened to you in your career: that you just want to celebrate and it’s nothing but exciting?”
Gotta love a happy ending. Listen to the entire podcast episode here.