Rachel McAdams Revealed That She Was Told She Was “Too Old” For This “Mean Girls” Role

It might shock you to find out, however, that Rachel didn’t audition for Regina initially — and not only that, but the film’s casting had some specific misgivings about the role she was pursuing.

In an interview with People, Rachel — who stars in the hit horror-comedy Send Help that’s in theaters this very second — revealed that the Mean Girls role she initially pursued was…Wait for it…

The role of Cady Heron, which (as you well know) went to Lindsay Lohan.

“I remember thinking, ‘This is a futile exercise. I will never be hired for Cady,’” Rachel said about the audition — and, as it turns out, her prediction wasn’t too far off from the truth.

When director Mark Waters got involved with the casting process, he imparted some words to Rachel that ultimately caused Mean Girls to be the film it is today.

Rachel said that Mark commented at the time, “You’re too old to play Cady, but you’re just right for Regina. Regina has been around the block a few times and maybe has a, I don’t know if I’d call her an old soul, but she’s got a few more miles on her than Cady.”

Now, just for the record: Rachel is 47, whereas Lindsay is 39. So Rachel is technically older IRL, but it’s unclear whether Regina and Cady are of a different age in the film itself.

But in case you were wondering whether Rachel was offended by the comment: “I took it as a compliment,” she added.