Auli’l Cravalho will be playing the iconic character in the upcoming film
BY NIC CROSARA, IMAGE BY JOJO WHILDEN/PARAMOUNT
The UK release for the highly anticipated Mean Girls musical movie is right around the corner. Of course, with it being a musical, there are lots of twists and changes from the original. One change is that the iconic character Janis Ian, who will be played by bisexual star Auli’l Cravalho in the reboot, will be openly a lesbian from the get-go.
When the original film premiered 20 years ago, it introduced us to Janis (Lizzy Caplan) who told Cady (Lindsay Lohan) that she used to be BFFs with Regina George (Rachel McAdams). It was revealed that the two fell out following Regina spreading a rumour that Janis was a lesbian.
In the 2004 version of the story, Janis never confirmed her sexuality. In this modern take, Janis will be a “loud and proud” lesbian. Auli’l told Screen Rant: “Previously, in our ’04 version, ‘lesbian’ for Janis was used kind of as a slur, and we’re taking that back.”
We’re certainly looking forward to seeing this sapphic representation in this highly-anticipated musical reimagining. But that’s not all we’re hoping for…
Fans have long since speculated that the original Regina was a lesbian. A theory that bisexual star Reneé Rapp (who will be stepping into the role for the 2024 film) has shown support for. Reneé has already stolen our hearts for playing an iconic lesbian character, The Sex Lives Of College Girls’ Leighton.
We’ve all been hoping that Regina will be a canon lesbian or sapphic character in this musical film. And when Reneé released the hit single, It’s Not My Fault, featuring Megan Thee Stallion, which was made for the film, we got even more gay panic.
In the second verse, Reneé sings: “Get her number, get her name/ Get a good thing while you can/ Kiss a blonde, kiss a girned/ Can a gay girl get an ‘Amen’?” While this could be the queer star singing from her own perspective, many have taken this as confirmation that we might be getting a sapphic Regina at last.
I guess we’ll have to wait to see…
Mean Girls hits theatres on 11 January.
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