Inside Amanda Seyfried and Lacey Chabert’s Friendship Nearly 20 Years After ‘Mean Girls’
The 2004 movie Mean Girls is iconic for many reasons. The film features a star-studded cast of actors, including Lindsay Lohan, Amanda Seyfried, Rachel McAdams, and Amy Poehler. It also features whip-sharp writing from Saturday Night Live star Tina Fey, along with memorable scenes that still hold up as being hilarious and insightful.
Several cast members formed deep connections while on the set of Mean Girls, including Seyfried and co-star Lacey Chabert. The two performers developed a deep friendship that would last decades – and even to this day, they are still quite close.
‘Mean Girls’ was a game-changing film for many of the cast members
When Mean Girls started production, Lindsay Lohan was by far the biggest star attached to the project. Lohan, who had risen to fame as a child star due to movies like The Parent Trap, had just entered the newest phase of her career, with the actor taking on more mature roles – and Mean Girls would do much to redefine her legacy in Hollywood.
Lohan, who was just 18 when Mean Girls was released, was joined in the film by a host of talented professionals. McAdams enjoyed her big breakthrough playing resident “mean girl” and queen bee Regina George. At 26 years old at the time of the film’s release, the actor went on to develop a hugely successful movie career. Shortly after the premiere of Mean Girls, one of McAdams’ most iconic movies — The Notebook — was released.
Amanda Seyfried, who was 18 when she worked on Mean Girls, was not a novice when she signed on to play the ditsy Karen Smith – in fact, she had been acting for years in smaller roles in TV and film. Mean Girls did put Seyfried on the map, however, and she utilized her role in the film to solidify her status as a star.
While every member of the cast got along well, it was Seyfried and her 22-year-old co-star, Lacey Chabert, who played Gretchen Wieners, who went on to develop a strong bond.
Amanda Seyfried and Lacey Chabert grew close during the filming of ‘Mean Girls’
Chabert was also a TV veteran, and she and Seyfried quickly found out that they had a lot in common. In a recent interview with Marie Claire, Seyfried opened up about how she and Chabert formed their bond, admitting that they sat together between takes in Chabert’s trailer, listening to music and planning out a fun Thanksgiving dinner for the cast.
Chabert told Marie Claire that Seyfried is unexpectedly hilarious: “She has this really dry sense of humor and dry wit. The biggest challenge on set was to not laugh on camera when we weren’t supposed to be laughing.”
Lacey Chabert and Amanda Seyfried support each other to this day
While fans around the world still know and love both Seyfried and Chabert for their roles in Mean Girls, perhaps the film’s biggest legacy is the enduring friendship between the two actors, who rose to prominence because of the comedy. Seyfried and Chabert have both gone on to build families – with Seyfried welcoming two children with her husband, Thomas Sadoski, and Chabert and her husband having a baby in 2016.
Although both Seyfried and Chabert have busy schedules, they still find time to check in with each other and show support in any way that they can. As Seyfried told Marie Claire, she even knitted a special purple and gold baby blanket for Chabert when she gave birth to her daughter. For fans, the two performers might be forever known as Gretchen and Karen, but it’s clear that Seyfried and Chabert relate to each other on a fundamental level.
