Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Mean Girls 2024!

Summary

• Lindsay Lohan makes a small cameo in Mean Girls 2024, playing a judge at the mathlete championship.
• Her character is not an older version of Cady Heron and the 2024 movie is a clear remake, not connected to the original.
• Lohan's cameo includes playful references to the original movie, such as mentioning the tie question and not knowing Cady's life.

Lindsay Lohan has a cameo in 2024's Mean Girls, and her appearance comes with a few references to the original 2004 movie. Lohan famously played Cady Heron in the original Mean Girls movie, giving her an iconic role in a cult classic. Her connection to the movie meant that questions about whether she would be part of the 2024 musical remake immediately came up. The speculation about her possible appearance remained incredibly high throughout the film's development and production, with the Mean Girls 2024 team and Lohan never confirming that audiences would see her pop up in the movie.

The odds of a Lindsay Lohan cameo in Mean Girls started to increase over time. Although the movie is not directly connected to the original film and instead is a remake, Lohan was among the original stars to take part in a Mean Girls reunion ad in 2023. She was also a vocal supporter of the new adaptation and even attended the film's world premiere. Anyone who watches Mean Girls with an eye out for Lohan will not be disappointed. The actress does return in the 2024 musical for a small cameo that includes some playful connections to the original movie.

Lindsay Lohan's Mean Girls 2024 Cameo Explained

Audiences have to wait through most of Mean Girls for Lindsay Lohan's cameo to take place. The original star appears as part of the scenes set at the mathlete championship Cady partakes in with North Shore. Once the two mathlete teams are set on the stage, Mean Girls 2024 shows Lindsay Lohan for the first time. She plays the judge of the championship, leaving her to ask the mathematical questions to the two teams. This means that the 2024 movie gives Lohan a chance to interact with the new Cady Heron actress Angourie Rice for a few different scenes.

Linsday Lohan's character in 2024's Mean Girls is never specifically named, but this is not an older version of her Cady Heron. The actress is instead playing an entirely different person it seems. This reinforces the idea that the 2024 Mean Girls is not connected to the 2004 movie in a way where they both take place in the same universe. The musical is a clear remake, and Lindsay Lohan returning to the property but not as an older Cady proves that.

Lindsay Lohan's Mean Girls Cameo Playfully References Her Original Movie Role

Lindsay Lohan's role in Mean Girls 2024 is rather small, but the movie still sneaks in a few references to the original movie through her. The first such reference comes when Lohan's character mentions that the mathlete championship has only ever ended in a tie once before. This is a new line added to the movie that clearly is meant to remind viewers of when Lohan's Cady was part of the final tie question in the 2004 movie's mathlete championship and provided the winning answer of "the limit does not exist." The same answer is repeated in the 2024 musical to decide the championship.

Lohan's character also tells Cady that she doesn't know her life at one point, which can be seen as another playful nod to her past with the series and character. Since Lindsay Lohan played Cady Heron in the 2004 movie, she does know quite a lot about what the 2024 movie's Cady is dealing with in her life. The references to the original Mean Girls that Lindsay Lohan is able to make are subtle but still clever. That is essentially how the 2024 movie operates when it comes to including a few other small Easter eggs to the original movie. Those other references do not come during Lohan's cameo scene.

Which Other Original Mean Girls Cast Members Appear In The Musical

The fact that Lindsay Lohan returned for 2024's Mean Girls is all the more surprising considering how the movie handles bringing back other original cast members. Tina Fey and Tim Meadows are the only other actors from the 2004 film to also appear in the 2024 movie. In both of their cases, they actually play the same roles as before, with Fey returning as Ms. Norbury and Meadows back as Principal Duvall. Mean Girls 2024 does include a photo of Meadows from the first movie in Duvall's office, but these are not the same versions of Norbury and Duvall from before.

Other than Tina Fey and Tim Meadows' return, the rest of the 2004 Mean Girls cast does not appear in any capacity in the new film. Rachel McAdams, Lacey Chabert, and Amanda Seyfriend do not cameo, and neither does Jonathan Bennett, Lizzy Caplan, or Daniel Franzese. There could have been opportunities for many of them to have cameos in different capacities, but Mean Girls 2024 elects to limit its returning cast members. That makes Lindsay Lohan's cameo stand out even more.