What You Need to Know about Ashley Tisdale and Her Mean Girls Connection
Ashley Tisdale made a guest appearance on Watch What Happens Live, where she revealed she auditioned for the role of Karen Smith in Mean Girls (2004).
On March 5, Tisdale made an appearance on Watch What Happens Live, hosted by Andy Cohen. A fan-submitted question asked if the High School Musical actress had auditioned for the role of Karen Smith in Mean Girls, written by Tina Fey.
Ashley Tisdale remembers screen testing for the original Mean Girls movie with Blake Lively and says one of her screen testing adlibs made the film! #WWHL pic.twitter.com/tmL40E6c8U
— Watch What Happens Live! (@BravoWWHL) March 6, 2024
Tisdale confirmed the rumor and reflected on her experience. “I remember screen-testing, and it was me and Blake Lively and someone else.”
The role of “the dumbest person you’ll ever meet” was ultimately given to 19-year-old Amanda Seyfried in her feature-film debut. Tisdale explains how a line she ad-libbed in the audition process made it into the film’s final cut. “I just remember I ad-libbed ’cause I always like to steal a scene, and they put it in the movie.”
The actress did not reveal which line she was referring to but jokes, “I should’ve got a writer’s credit.”
Waitttt because Ashley Tisdale in Mean Girls would’ve been SO iconic, I mean Sharpay was THE main mean girl anyway!
— steven ☀️ (@arianaunext) March 7, 2024
Casting director Marci Liroff reveals that the coveted roles within Mean Girls were highly sought after. According to People, Liroff told author Jennifer Keishin in her new book, So Fetch: The Making of Mean Girls (and Why We’re Still So Obsessed with It), that Tisdale was in consideration for Gretchen, alongside her soon-to-be High School Musical co-star Vanessa Hudgens and Mary Elizabeth Winstead. Haylie Duff, Kate Mara, and Megan Fox auditioned for Karen.
Tisdale has been busy in her acting and music pursuits in recent years. She continues voice acting for children’s films, such as Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candance Against the Universe (2020) and Baby Shark’s Big Movie! (2023). In addition, Tisdale has served as a judge on the Masked Singer spinoff, The Masked Dancer, alongside Ken Jeong, Paula Abdul, and Brian Austin Green.
Tisdale gave confirmation that she has begun working on her fourth studio album in April 2019. The upcoming project would be the follow-up to her third album, Symptoms, released on May 3, 2019. On May 4, 2020, she released a new track called “Lemons,” which is believed to be the lead single from her latest effort.
The singer and actress has undertaken new responsibilities in her life, including being a mother. On September 17, 2020, Tisdale took to Instagram to announce that she was expecting a child alongside her husband, Christopher French, whom she married in Santa Barbara, California, in September 2014. Tisdale also founded Frenshe, a brand that makes wellness accessible to all.
Tisdale’s Being Frenshe line is available at Target, and fans can follow the multi-faceted mogul on her personal and Frenshe Instagram accounts for life and brand updates.
Viewers can stream Mean Girls (2004) on Paramount+.
Isaiah is an entertainment writer for Glitter Magazine with a focus on music and film stories. He enjoys the aforementioned topics as well as performing, yoga, and fashion.
