Mean Girls is one of 2024’s biggest hits and even nearly halfway through the year, it’s still being talked about and that’s in part due to the incredible work from directing duo and couple Samantha Jayne, Arturo Perez Jr. OTN spoke to the duo ab out their feature film debut, the incredible Renee Rapp, and how their music video experience helped them with this film.

OTN: I just want to say congratulations on this movie. It’s doing so well at the box office and everyone seems to love it. I read that this is your feature directorial debut. So I’m very curious, what was it like getting a project as big as like a musical adaptation of Mean Girls as your first big feature film?

A.P: You can’t just walk in there and just do that. Like it was, we worked for a long, long, long, like it was 10, like 11 years of work of just like grinding. Together and then you have a history of doing many, many music videos for a long time. So it’s one of the things that like, you know, it’s in particular this movie, it felt like there was a special like pressure attached to it because of the amount of love that the original has and the Broadway musical has, you know? So it’s like, if you’re gonna touch it, like, don’t mess it up, you know? Like, don’t mess it up. So that’s where, like, just like, that’s why Sam and I completely, like, obsessed over it for three years.

S.J: Yeah, I mean, it was, I’m, yes, it was a stratospheric jump and honor to be able to come on board to Mean Girls. And we’re both such fans of the original, so being able to adapt it to today’s audience was just such a cool thing, because I remember it meaning so much when I was in high school. It was, yeah, it was mind-blowing being able to work with everyone we did at the capacity we did and have the trust amongst everyone to make something, you know, hopefully new and resonate with audiences today who I don’t envy because social media did not exist when I was in high school.

OTN: Yeah, for sure. You mentioned your history of music videos and it’s very much evident in this movie, a lot of the musical numbers. So I’m curious, is there a particular moment or like song in the movie where when you were shooting it, like, “oh, I can implement something I learned” working on music videos?

A.P: Is there a specific one that comes to mind? Sure, I mean, I think that I’d rather be me and the Say Something music video I did with Justin Timberlake. That one is like because the, that one was a one take and a live performance, live take and and so there were so many parallels because in “I’d Rather Be Me”, that she’s like, at this moment, she would not let you cut. You know, she would just would not, like, that’s who she is. So we knew from the very first time, we’re like, this has to be like a one-er. And so like implementing a lot of the things that we had learned from the JT video felt like a natural kind of progression.

OTN: I’m really happy that that carried on into Mean Girls And I have to ask Renee Rapp. She is incredible in this. She’s the best part of this. She seals the show. How easy was it to get her on board to come back as Regina for this?

S.J: I mean, Tina had a wonderful relationship with Renee from the Broadway show. So I believe they kept in touch and she was able to ask her to come on. I mean, it’s…

A.P But she wanted to do it. Like, she was into it. Oh, yeah.

S.J: And I think she was especially into, like, really just embodying the character for cinema cinema as opposed to, you know, the Broadway stage where she would have to, you know, Broadway is such a different thing. You have to sing to the back of the house. You have to be a bit larger than life in other ways. And it’s like, how do you internalize that and bring that to an intimate space where the camera is right here, you know? So it was, I mean, it seems to be a really fun challenge for her that she was excited to do, and also bring her pop sensibilities to these songs was really amazing.

A.P: But each of them, each of these characters are special. Like each of these actors and how they embody their characters are so special and unique. I think that’s what makes this movie so special is that everybody brought it, you know?

OTN: I couldn’t agree with you more on that. And you were mentioning like larger than life for Renee. Like, I don’t know how she does it, but she brings that to the screen. It’s just like when she makes her entrance in the movie, I just remember like my jaw was like, I’m just like, oh my god, I don’t want to stop watching. Something else about Mean Girls, the focal point of it, it’s high school. It’s cliques. So, you know, in the movie they mention there’s jocks, drama kids, nerds, and of course the plastics. Which one do you guys think you would have belonged to if you’re in the Mean Girls universe?

S.J: I was like hands down a theater mess, for sure. I was at that table. Actually, funny enough, one of the costumers on the show was a friend from high school who was in theater with me. And she actually, I don’t know how she found them. She called around to our friends and found our old show shirts that we all signed, like Beauty and the Beast, Aida. Every single scene where you see the theater mass table, there’s a girl wearing one of our show shirts. So that was very like, world’s melding for me.

A.P: I was moving around like a lot. So I think I was like, kinda like Katie, cause she’s had to be, you know, new in school. So yeah, I really identified with that.

S.J: But hopefully you didn’t eat lunch in the bathroom.

OTN: So I want to ask you one more question before we go. This happens to be the 20th anniversary of the original Mean Girls. So in the world, hypothetically, if another Mean Girls adaptation released in another 20 years, which format would you like to see it take on?

S.J: You probably have to inject it intravenously into your DNA and then it’s like projected from your eyeballs.

A.P: Probably VR. Mean Girls VR Experience.

Mean Girls is available to buy or rent on Digital now!