Busy Philipps (Girls5eva) has joined Paramount’s musical movie Mean Girls, based on the Tony-nominated Broadway show of the same name and the feature comedy that inspired it.
Philipps will play Mrs. George, the mother of Plastics leader Regina (Renée Rapp), a role established by Amy Poehler in the first Paramount film.
Tina Fey’s adaptation of Rosalind Wiseman’s novel Queen Bees and Wannabes follows high school new kid Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) in her struggle to fit in with the A-list girl clique, The Plastics. Its musical sequel, also written by Fey, with music by Jeff Richmond and lyrics by Nell Benjamin, premiered on Broadway in 2018.
As previously revealed, the new film for Paramount+ will also star Angourie Rice, Auli’i Cravalho, Jaquel Spivey, Avantika, Christopher Briney, Bebe Wood, Fey, Tim Meadows, and Jenna Fischer.
Arturo Perez and Samantha Jayne are directing from Fey’s script, and Broadway Video’s Lorne Michaels is producing alongside Fey. Broadway Video is overseen by Erin David, Caroline Maroney, and Micah Frank, while Little Stranger is overseen by Eric Gurian and Jeff Richmond. The choreographer for the film is Kyle Hanagami.
Philipps presently co-stars in the comedy series Girls5eva with Sara Bareilles, Paula Pell, Renée Elise Goldsberry, and others, which will move from Peacock to Netflix for its third season. She won a Critics Choice TV Award for her supporting role on the ABC/TBS sitcom Cougar Town, opposite Courteney Cox, and has also been on shows such as HBO’s Danny McBride comedy Vice Principals, Dawson’s Creek, ER, and Paul Feig and Judd Apatow’s Freaks and Geeks.
On the big screen, she’s most known for her roles in rom-coms like He’s Just Not That Into You, Made of Honor, and I Feel Pretty, but she’s also acted in Joel Edgerton’s STX/Blumhouse thriller The Gift and other films. She also hosted her own late-night talk show Busy Tonight on E! from 2018 to 2019, which she also executive produced alongside Fey.
Philipps, who is also a New York Times bestselling author, activist, and writer, co-hosts the podcast Busy Philipps Is Doing Her Best with creative partner Caissie St. Onge. Range Media Partners and Gang, Tyre, and Ramer represent her.
