The new Mean Girls movie arrived to buy or rent on Digital from Paramount Home Entertainment earlier this month and debuts on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD on April 30. This time, the cast is led by Angourie Rice, Reneé Rapp, Auliʻi Cravalho, Christopher Briney, and Jaquel Spivey.
April 30 also happens to be the 20th anniversary of the original contemporary classic, 2004's Mean Girls, with that also hitting 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD the same day.
Last month, we caught up with Jaquel to discuss his role in the remake as Damian Hubbard; he picks up where Daniel Franzese left off and never misses a step. The actor is hilarious in the role, and it's hard to believe this is his first big screen project following a successful run on stage.
His star is on the rise, that's for sure, and among the many topics we covered with Jaquel was what it was like to collaborate with Cravalho. "Auli'i is an extremely talented artist. Very gifted," he tells us in the video below. "It was a joy to work with someone who really cares about their craft and just brought such a real energy to Janis and found the truth in that character. It was very easy to bounce off her energy and play with that."
"Angourie is just the sweetest person," Jaquel later said of sharing the screen with the Spider-Man: No Way Home star. "You can’t help but want to hug Angourie. Every day I was on set, I’d be like, ‘Hey, girl!’ She’s my little sister. That energy, I hope, translated into Cady because as Damian, I want to protect her but I also want to be loyal to Janis and see how the drama unfolds. She’s just such a fantastic person to work with."
Jaquel also opens up on Mean Girls' musical numbers, what the original 2004 movie meant to him, embracing the comedic aspects of this project, and where he hopes his on-screen career goes next. Watch the full interview in the player below:
0:06 - What it was like to transition from a successful stage career to a big movie role
0:50 - What Mean Girls meant to him before he signed up for the reboot
2:14 - Shooting "Revenge Party" and the time it took to create
3:25 - Working with Auli'i Cravalho
4:01 - Working with Angourie Rice
4:41 - His favourite musical numbers in the movie
5:38 - Singing the iCarly theme song in French and getting creative on set
7:03 - The physical comedy required by this role
8:12 - Mean Girls’ positive messages and what it meant to tackle such timely themes
9:15 - What his aspirations are for the future
From the comedic mind of Tina Fey comes a new twist on the modern classic Mean Girls. New student Cady Heron is welcomed into the top of the social food chain by the elite group of popular girls called 'The Plastics,' ruled by the conniving queen bee Regina George. However, when Cady makes the major misstep of falling for Regina’s ex-boyfriend Aaron Samuels, she finds herself prey in Regina’s crosshairs. As Cady sets to take down the group’s apex predator with the help of her outcast friends Janis and Damian, she must learn how to stay true to herself while navigating the most cutthroat jungle of all: high school.