One Mean Girls Actor Learned About His Casting In The Funniest Way Ever

It’s true that all films begin with words on a page, but that takes you perhaps a tenth of the way to a finished film – and even if you set out on that journey with a brilliantly crafted script, it A myriad remains. opportunities to create an absolute dog along the way. This is because filmmaking is a highly collaborative art form. Everyone, from the director to the cinematographer to the editor, producer, and costume designers, must be dedicated to serving this great storyline well (it’s not enough to be on the same page, because it’s There are many films where incredibly talented craftsmen were brought together by destroying a promising storyline).

One of the most important stages of film production is of course casting. Good casting is an art (which is why it now has its own Oscar), especially when it comes to putting on a comedy. Again, it’s not just about bringing together some of the funniest people on the planet. One need only look at joyless atrocities like Harold Ramis’ “Club Paradise,” Nora Ephron’s “Mixed Nuts” and Akiva Schaffer’s “The Watch” to find proof that comedic geniuses repeatedly fail to sync up. Chemistry is key, and it’s up to the casting director to bring in the right group of actors to find the ideal combinations.

For an example of perfect comedy casting, you can’t do better than Mark Waters’ “Mean Girls” (and perhaps no worse than the musical “Mean Girls”). Even though he was armed with a devilishly funny script from Tina Fey, Waters faced the challenge of finding a collection of young, mostly unknown actors who could bounce off star Lindsay Lohan in hilarious and unpredictable ways. They hit the jackpot with Rachel McAdams, Amanda Seyfried, Lacey Chabert, Lizzy Caplan and Daniel Franzese, but they almost missed the mark as Aaron Samuels. As Cady Heron’s love interest (and Regina George’s ex-boyfriend), Aaron was meant to be a sympathetic, goofy object of desire. Jonathan Bennett ended up killing the role, but his initial loss almost killed a crucial element of the film.

During a recent Hallmark Channel panelJonathan Bennett spilled the tea on the “Mean Girls” casting process. He wasn’t the first choice to play Aaron Samuels. In fact, it was, but management interference almost cost him a major opportunity.

According to Bennett, he aced his audition by making Lindsay Lohan blush on camera. “[Mark Waters] looks at me and says, ‘Hey kid, you just made my lead actor blush.’ You’re going to get the part,” Bennett said. “I’m like, ‘Yeah, I got it!'”

So Bennett was surprised when, upon returning from his triumphant audition, he received a call informing him that the production was going with someone else – someone who, according to the actor’s account, had the blonde hair and blue eyes which were popular. at the time (he cites Paul Walker and Brad Pitt as examples). Alas, Bennett was back to folding sweaters at Abercrombie & Fitch.

Little did Bennett know that the actor cast as Aaron was about to get fired by bombing the first board read.

If you’re wondering how Bennett suddenly went from, according to him, favorite for Aaron to also a candidate, it all came down to an executive decision by then-Paramount head Sherry Lansing, who wanted to go with the Paul Walker Lookalike (whose identity is a mystery). According to Bennett, “I knew I was Lorne Michaels’ choice, I knew I was the director’s choice, I knew I was Tina Fey’s choice, I knew I was Lindsay’s choice, but the president of Paramount sort of… goes over everyone’s heads and says, “That’s him.”

Then came the disastrous table reading. Even if Bennett wasn’t there, this is how he understands the whole fiasco unfolded:

“[The actor] goes to reading table in Canada, walks in, he wears baggy sweatpants, baggy hoodie, hat. He mutters. He walks up to Tim Meadows and asks, “Hey man, who are you?” And Tim Meadows says, “My name is Tim Meadows, I’m You?’ It was just super awkward, wasn’t it? He just says the wrong things. When he read, he mumbled. And Lorne Michaels from “Saturday Night Live” is used to the table read being on point…so they told me, “Hey, make sure you deliver.” »

The flaky actor was fired immediately after the table read, which was no big deal because everyone not named Sherry Lansing wanted Bennett in the first place. It was a little confusing for Bennett, though, who was shirtless in the middle of a shift at Abercrombie & Fitch when his agent called to tell him the good news. Although he was understandably excited, the young actor was focused on his job at hand, so he told his agent he would call him back after work. His agent was not amused. “You don’t to have a change,” he replied. “Stop.”

And just like that, Bennett was on a plane to Canada to film one of the most beloved comedies of the 2000s that totally made the “fetch” possible.