SNL Creates History With Mean Girls Crossover as Rachel McAdams Meets Reneé Rapp For the First Time on Television

Rachel McAdams has been part of a variety of Hollywood projects in the last two decades. From playing the leading lady in romantic flicks like The Notebook and The Vow to portraying bold surgeon Christine Palmer in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, McAdams has seemingly done it all.

Regardless, millions of Mean Girls fans still only see her as their favorite bully and the leader of the Plastics, Regina George. As such, when she shared the stage with Reneé Rapp – the new Regina – during the latest episode of Saturday Night Live, plenty of fans got excited.

Read more: Lindsay Lohan or Rachel McAdams, Who is the Highest Paid Mean Girls Star?

Rachel McAdams Surprises Fans With Her SNL Appearance Alongside Reneé Rapp

Mean Girls returned to the big screen early in January — 20 years after the original hit teen comedy, which followed Cady Heron’s (Lindsay Lohan) face-off with The Plastics, the A-list girl clique at her new school.

The 2024 film is a musical teen comedy featuring Angourie Rice as Cady Heron and Reneé Rapp as Regina George – the role that shot Rachel McAdams to stardom. Despite earning plenty of plaudits for her portrayal, McAdams wasn’t part of Mean Girls 2 (2011) – as the sequel moved in a very different direction to the original story.

In recent years, The Notebook star has not been part of any other Mean Girls-related events. As such, her appearance on SNL left everyone surprised.

In the episode, she introduced Rapp, much to the excitement of Mean Girls fans. This was the two Plastics’ first meeting on television. Some fans loved the fact that McAdams and Rapp blew each other flying kisses during the episode.

According to Variety, the 45-year-old also took part in the sketch as Natalie Partman, an actor who struggled to land any roles because she looked too much like Rachel McAdams.

Rachel McAdams and Reneé Rapp blowing each other kisses during Jacob Elordi’s SNL goodbyes…I love my Regina Georges pic.twitter.com/I5kaJnbAdE

— Spencer Althouse (@SpencerAlthouse) January 21, 2024

While the McAdams-Rapp crossover on SNL was certainly a hit, the 2024 film itself has failed to replicate the success of the original, grossing just $48.3 million at the global box office so far.

Read more: “It’s going to be about…”: Tina Fey’s Original Vision for ‘Mean Girls’ Was Wildly Different

Who Was the First Choice to Play Rachel McAdams’ Regina George in Mean Girls

Mean Girls (2004) instantly became a huge success, crossing the $100 million mark against a budget of just $18 million. The reason behind its success, apart from relatable themes of new beginnings and bullying, is the incredible performance of its lead stars.

In hindsight, every casting decision seems obvious. However, director Mark Waters had different ideas for multiple lead characters.

Lohan was first considered to play Regina, but she decided to instead play the “nice girl” due to fears of how the public would judge her after playing a bully. Eventually, McAdams was chosen to play “mean girl” because “only nice girls can play mean girls,” according to the producer (via IMDb).

Meanwhile, the teen comedy’s Karen, Amanda Seyfried, was initially considered to play Cady but then the producer thought she would do better portraying the “dumb girl.”