Highly quotable dialogue aside, even the names of several of the movie’s characters came straight from the Saturday Night Live alum’s past. Rachel McAdams as Regina George, Lacy Chabert as Gretchen Weiners and Amanda Seyfried as Karen Smith in ’Mean Girls’ Photo: Paramount/ Courtesy Everett CollectionĬady Heron was named after Fey's college roommate 'And she'll say 'Clearly she wanted someone to notice that shirt. 'My mom has this habit that if she sees a lady in a really ugly hat or a glittery sweatshirt, she'll go 'I love your shirt' and I'll say 'Mom, that's really mean,'' Fey revealed in an interview. The scene was straight from Jeanne’s playbook. Where did you get it?” After the visibly flattered girl walks away, however, Regina turns to Cady and scoffs, “That is the ugliest effing skirt I’ve ever seen.” In one of the Mark Waters-directed film’s memorable moments, Regina compliments a classmate’s “adorable” outfit in the hallway, telling her, “Oh my god, I love your skirt.

That line, of course, was delivered by the ruthless Regina, a character that was further shaped by another member of Fey’s household: her mother, Zenobia “Jeanne” Fey. READ MORE: How Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph Became Hollywood's Ultimate Best Friends Regina George's famous compliment is inspired by Fey's mother “That thing of someone saying 'You’re really pretty' and then, when the other person thanks them, saying, 'Oh, so you agree? You think you’re pretty?' That happened in my school.

“I revisited high school behaviors of my own - futile, poisonous, bitter behaviors that served no purpose,” Fey, a graduate of Pennsylvania’s Upper Darby High School - and admitted former “mean girl” herself - once recalled to the New York Times. In fact, the story of naive, formerly homeschooled transfer student Cady Heron ( Lindsay Lohan) navigating the travails of teen life at the hands of queen bee Regina George ( Rachel McAdams) and her army of “Plastics” - comprised of Gretchen Wieners (Lacy Chabert) and Karen Smith ( Amanda Seyfried) - may have been filled with Fey’s experiences as much as Gretchen’s hair was full of secrets. What made the 2004 high school comedy so, well, fetch, however, were the personal touches Fey added from her own life. When Tina Fey wrote the screenplay for Mean Girls, she based the plot on Rosalind Wiseman’s 2002 bestselling self-help book, Queen Bees & Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends & Other Realities of Adolescence.

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