"Mean Girls" cast: Checking in on the Plastics nearly 20 years later

When Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) asked Aaron Samuels (Jonathan Bennett) what day of the week it was in math class she changed the fabric of the universe as we know it. For the rest of eternity, Oct. 3 will be known as "Mean Girls" Day to any person who has a heart. The faux-national holiday was yesterday and there were traces of the film's impact all over social media. The Paramount TikTok account absurdly posted the entire film on the platform in 23 parts. Also, it was announced that the "Mean Girls" Broadway musical, which has been turned into a movie musical adaption, will be released to the public in January 2024 bringing it full circle. And then of course the original film will celebrate its 20th anniversary on April 30.

Close to its two decades of life, the film will never die and continues to take on a whole new form as new generations of people find it. In the film, Lindsay Lohan plays Cady, who had been homeschooled in Africa but now has moved to Illinois to attend North Shore High School where she meets the resident emo girl Janice (Lizzy Caplan) and the gay best friend Damian (Daniel Franzese). Janice has it out for the Plastics — the school's trio of untouchable hot mean girls, which consists of Regina George (Rachel McAdams), Gretchen Weiners (Lacey Chabert) and Karen Smith (Amanda Seyfried). Janice and Damian enlist Cady to infiltrate the Plastics for a classic teenage revenge story to expose the Plastics for the fake, soulless and manipulative girls that they are. However Cady, who is struggling to find her place and identity in an American high school, slowly but surely morphs into – as Janice says in the film – "cold shiny hard plastic."

The film became a cult classic and shaped the careers of mega-industry hitters McAdams, Lohan, Seyfried and many more.

Here's a look at where the "Mean Girls" actors started, what they did post-film and what's next for them.

Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.