“Mean Girls” 20th Anniversary: Cast Explains Why It's 'Timeless' for Millennials and Gen Z Alike (Exclusive)

A new behind-the-scenes video celebrating 20 years of ‘Mean Girls’ includes interviews with Renée Rapp, Ashley Park and more

Twenty years later, Mean Girls can still sit with us.

The 2004 Lindsay Lohan-starring comedy written by Tina Fey about high school hierarchies remains as timeless as ever, as a new behind-the-scenes featurette from the movie’s 20th anniversary Blu-ray edition highlights.

Mean Girls “will always be timeless,” explains Ashley Park in a clip from the featurette shared exclusively with PEOPLE.

The actress, who originated the role of Gretchen Wieners on Broadway, is among the cast members of 2024’s movie musical Mean Girls interviewed in the video. Park, 32, says the enduring impact behind “whatever version” of the story comes down to a simple reason: “People want to laugh.”

Related: The 10 Biggest Differences Between the New Mean Girls Movie and the Original

Directed by Mark Waters, Mean Girls became a cultural phenomenon following its box office success in April 2004. Not only have Fey’s endlessly quotable lines endured in the 20 years since (even reaching President Barack Obama, who once tweeted a reference to an iconic line), the movie remains as much an educational tool for high school teachers as a cautionary tale for teenagers. 

As the younger cast members of the new musical explain in the featurette — between clips alternating from the 2004 and 2024 iterations — mean girls exist in high schools of every generation.

Avantika, 19, who plays the 2024 film’s Karen after Amanda Seyfried in the original film, says, “It was a huge movie for Millennials and for my generation too. It's iconic and it's such a timeless movie.”

Related: Jonathan Bennett Shares Throwback Photos with Lindsay Lohan and Lacey Chabert as Mean Girls Turns 20

“Twenty years later it’s just as poppin’ as it was when it came out,” says Renée Rapp of the original film, which starred Rachel McAdams as Regina George, queen of the popular Plastics. Rapp, 24, who also played the role in the Broadway musical, inherited the part from McAdams in the new film.

“It’s just become such a cultural staple, predicting trends,” she adds — from the prevalence of pink in fashion to the notion of a tell-all Burn Book. As Bebe Wood, who followed Lacey Chabert in playing Gretchen, points out, “It really does feel like everyone kind of has their own relationship with that film.” 

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Related: Mean Girls Secrets in New Book About the Making of 2004 Film: From $10K Wigs to Twerking at Cast Parties

Recently, the 2004 movie’s stars including Lohan, Seyfried, Chabert, Daniel Franzese and Rajiv Surendra came together for a Walmart ad campaign supporting the brand’s 2023 holiday deals.

After surprising fans on the red carpet for the 2024 version, Lohan was revealed to have a cameo in the film opposite the actress newly playing her role of Cady Heron, Angourie Rice.

The Mean Girls 20th Anniversary Edition is available April 30 on 4K Ultra HD Disc and on digital.

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