This year marks 15 years since Mean Girls hit cinemas and forever changed popular culture with its endlessly quotable lines.
But Lizzy Caplan, who played the goth sidekick, Janis Ian, in the hit teen movie, said she'd still be totally down to return to her role after all this time — although she can't quite imagine what that would entail.
"I don't know what that [sequel] looks like!" Caplan told BuzzFeed News' AM to DM on Tuesday. "Mean girls in the world? Mean moms? Ugh!"
Caplan isn't ruling out the idea altogether, but she'd need to see an A+ script from screenwriter Tina Fey.
"Listen, if everybody was on board, if the script was anywhere near as good as the original one was, then I don't see how I could say no to that," Caplan said, "but I'm not really waiting by the phone for the Mean Girls reboot."
Caplan, who currently stars in Castle Rock as the Stephen King villain Annie Wilkes (most famously played by Kathy Bates in the 1990 film Misery), was also asked by BuzzFeed News whether she agreed with a viral 2017 Twitter thread that joked that Janis was one of the true antagonists of Mean Girls.
She then introduces us to her friend Damian who she IMMEDIATELY outs. This EXACT COMMENT, although meant as ‘inoffensive’ is then used as his burn in the Burn Book, so guess what JANIS, you’ve made a problematic statement that is now being used as a homophobic slur, well done.
In this field Janis then introduces three women that Cady has literally never even seen before and... slut shames them. Immediately.
So there you have it, Janis Ian is the true villain of Mean Girls. Regina may be a bitch but at least she knows it and is open about it. Janis is a manipulative bully who is in total denial about her behaviour and people like her should be avoided. The end xoxo
Caplan was shocked to learn of the Twitter thread's existence, but agreed that her character was "layered."
In the film, of course, it is Janis who immediately turns Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) against the "Plastics" and devises the revenge plan against Regina George (Rachel McAdams).
So, BuzzFeed News had to ask: Was Janis secretly a mean girl?
"Yeah, of course!" said Caplan, "but she was way craftier than the other mean girls. She was a mean girl with spy plans — with purpose!"
Caplan's costar in Mean Girls, Lacey Chabert (who played the character Gretchen Wieners), was on AM to DM herself earlier this month and hinted that every character in the movie is flawed: "The reason it works so well is that it is a really good message at the end of the movie, about building each other up and being there for each other and not feeling like we're all in competition together."
She added, "I'm proud to have been a part of the movie."
Full interview: @IamLaceyChabert talks about her new #CrosswordMysteries movie, why she *loves* Christmas, and why #MeanGirls is so beloved