
Twenty years after the original Mean Girls hit screens and claimed an indelible spot in pop culture history, the intoxicating and fascinating world of Regina George, The Plastics and general high-school craziness remains as popular - and relevant - as ever.
And with the release of the 2024 reboot of the cult classic, starring Angourie Rice and Reneé Rapp, we're more obsessed with the Mean Girls-verse than ever.
But do you know the story of the actual real-life people who inspired Tina Fey - who was the mastermind behind the original screenplay - to create the classic movie?
Watch: The Mean Girls 2024 edition trailer. Post continues below.
As the musical film version of Mean Girls has been busy taking over big screens in 2024, we take a look back at the origin stories of some of the comedy's most intriguing characters - starting with the 2002 book that started it all...
Queen Bees and Wannabes.
This was no incriminating Burn Book, but teacher-turned-writer Rosalind Wiseman's tome Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends and Other Realities of Adolescence did feature high-school cliques and stories of teen girls and their bitchy, aggressive behaviour. The self-help book was aimed at parents trying to understand their teenage daughters and the complex world of high school, or more specifically, "Girl World".