Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive show news, updates, and more!
Rachel McAdams' Surprise SNL Appearance Was a Meta Mean Girls Moment
McAdams, who played the o.g. Regina George in 2004's Mean Girls, introduced Reneé Rapp’s "Not My Fault" performance and portrayed her own doppelganger in a sketch with Jacob Elordi.
As fans of either film know, the original 2004 Mean Girls and the 2024 Mean Girls are two very different movies: The latter is a musical, for one, with Reneé Rapp assuming the role of Regina George, queen of The Plastics. But Saturday Night Live's January 20 episode accomplished the neat trick of putting two Regina George portrayers in one room, as actress Rachel McAdams showed up to introduce Rapp's performance of Mean Girls single "Not My Fault" featuring Megan Thee Stallion.
McAdams later showed up again in a sketch with Host Jacob Elordi, in which she played an unlucky actress who happens to eerily resemble...Rachel McAdams.
RELATED: Watch Jacob Elordi's SNL Sketches from January 20
In a sweet moment during SNL's goodnights, McAdams and Rapp could also be seen cheering each other on behind Elordi, which truly felt like one Regina George giving her blessing to the other.
In a photo shared to Instagram by Megan Thee Stallion following the performance, the rapper, Rapp, and McAdams stand on the Studio 8H stage pointing at each other like the "three Spider-Man" meme.
"Cause huhhh all the Reginas in one room," she captioned the image.
Watch Rachel McAdams introduce Reneé Rapp featuring Megan Thee Stallion
Stunning in a red suit and maroon mock turtleneck, Rachel McAdams wasted no time introducing Rapp, who delivered an electric performance of Mean Girls single "Not My Fault"—punctuated by Meg's reveal, as the rapper and October 15, 2022 SNL Host stepped out of a glittery pink cake mid-song to perform. (We all hoped that was going to happen once we saw the enormous set piece, right?)
But McAdam's appearance was particularly unexpected, given the response to her noticeable absence in a 2023 Walmart ad campaign that found her Mean Girls costars reprising their roles. In response to the (kind of strange!) pressure to comment on her choice not to appear, McAdams gave a fair and honest response.
“A movie sounded awesome, but I’ve never done commercials, and it just didn’t feel like my bag," McAdams told Variety. McAdams did come close to making a cameo appearance in 2024's Mean Girls, she revealed to the outlet, but this non-Regina role never organically came to fruition onscreen.
"Tina and I sort of dabbled with a few ideas, but it was tough to make it all work in the end,” the Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret actress said. “I was really down for whatever she wanted to do. I think the direction it went in will be fantastic and I cannot wait to see it.”
Rapp portrays Regina George onscreen after starring in the Tony-nominated Broadway musical in 2019.
Rachel McAdams played her own lookalike in SNL's Acting Class sketch
McAdams later popped up in Jacob Elordi's "Acting Class" sketch, in which the Australian actor plays a movie star who bums a bunch of acting students out when his path to fame is revealed (Selena Gomez "discovered" him in an airport). Her own role: An aspiring actress whose unique roadblock is that "she looks strikingly like Rachel McAdams." It definitely doesn't help that her name is Natalie Partman.
RELATED: Every Surprise Celebrity Appearance from SNL Season 49
Has Rachel McAdams hosted Saturday Night Live?
No.
Incredibly, Rachel McAdams has never been an SNL Host. But then, you may have never thought you'd see a new Mean Girls movie, so we can always keep hope alive that she will be one day.
