While Lindsay Lohan has faded from the spotlight in recent years, she did an amazing job with her portrayal of Cady Heron in the 2004 movie Mean Girls. It turns out that Lindsay was offered the role of Regina George, which is interesting to think about, since Rachel McAdams is a perfect Regina. This movie has meant so much to many people since it's not only hilarious but a story about bullying and being in high school.

Fans want to know more about where the inspiration for this popular movie came from. Is it based on a true story? Let's take a look.

The Book

Mean Girls has become so beloved that Vanessa Hudgens paid tribute to the Christmas scene with her friends. While Mean Girls isn't based on a true story, as the events are definitely fictional, it is based on a non-fiction book that depicts real social dynamics among girls.

According to Biography.com, the movie takes its inspiration from Queen Bees And Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman. In an interview with Bookbrowse.com, the author shared what she was like when she was growing up. She said, "Actually, like many people I played different roles depending on my age and circumstance. From 3rd through 5th grade I was often teased by my friends. At the same time I was a horrible Queen Bee to a very nice girl I grew up with—much to my mother's horror and embarrassment. When I was in 6th grade I moved to a new city and went to an all-girls' school, and that's where I had my first experiences with "mean girls" I barely knew."

The subtitle of the book is Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends & Other Realities of Adolescence, so it's interesting to know that parents are the book's target audience, according to Mental Floss.

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Other Inspiration

Tina Fey shared that when Regina always compliments other girls for their fashion sense and then talks about how bad it is behind their backs, she wrote that into the screenplay because that's what her mom has a habit of doing. While the movie isn't based on real events, though, Tina Fey shared in an interview with The New York Times that she was this type of girl in high school and so she knew what she was writing about. She said, “I revisited high school behaviors of my own — futile, poisonous, bitter behaviors that served no purpose. 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. That was a bear trap," according to Biography.com.

Tina also said that her brother Peter has a pal named Glen Coco and so she used that name. Cady Heron is inspired by someone, too: Tina lived with Cady Garey when she went to the University of Virginia, so she named the character after her.

According to Marie Claire, Tina Fey has been honest about not being the nicest person when she was younger. As she said in an interview with The Edit, "I was the mean girl. I admit it openly." Tina Fey explained more about this kind of behavior and she summed it up perfectly: she said, "That was a disease that had to be conquered. It's another coping mechanism—it's a bad coping mechanism —but when you feel less than (in high school, everyone feels less than everyone else for different reasons), in your mind it's a way of leveling the playing field. Though of course it's not."

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It makes sense that Tina Fey would want to write a screenplay based on a fascinating non-fiction book about bullying and how girls treat each other, especially since she says that she was a "mean girl" in the past. The movie may be about The Plastics who are fictional, but it's fair to say that most high schools have a similar clique, or at least one student who acts like Regina George in some capacity. Fans of the movie can likely say that they remember their own school groups, or maybe they remember being in junior high or high school and following someone who seemed "cool." It's only as people grow up that they realize staying true to themselves is definitely the better way to go. It can be hard not to want to be popular, as Mean Girls examines.

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Mean Girls has been so successful that there has even been a musical, and according to Cosmopolitan.com, Rachel McAdams and Lindsay Lohan would be happy to star in a sequel. Fans would be thrilled if that ever happens.

NEXT: Here’s How Much Lindsay Lohan Paid For ‘Mean Girls’