Amanda Seyfried Reveals She Was ‘Grossed out’ by Popular ‘Mean Girls’ Scene

Amanda Seyfried is best known for her role in Mean Girls, but the actor admits she did not appreciate the attention she received for one very specific scene in the film. Seyfried played Karen Smith, a clueless teen who believed she could predict the weather with her breasts using special “ESPN” powers.

It wasn’t uncommon for her to get recognized by fans for the role occasionally, but the remarks men would make about the scene made her feel uncomfortable. “I always felt really grossed out by that,” she told Marie Claire. “I was like 18 years old. It was just gross.” 

Mean Girls gave Seyfried extensive exposure as an actress, but although she received offers, she often played roles similar to Karen’s.”At first, I did Mean Girls, and I was kind of like, pigeonholed as this dumb blonde,” Seyfried told PopSugar. “I had opportunities, but not as many as I do now.”

The actor felt she wasn’t getting any meaningful roles until several years after the film. “I’ve been doing this for over 10 years now. 12? 13? 14 years? And I feel like I’m now just getting the respect that I’ve been wanting for so long,” she said. Seyfried still holds her Mean Girls character in high esteem.” Also, I’ve just worked a long time. I’ve gotten a lot of cool opportunities here and there and I’ve made some good choices with the help of my amazing team,” she told IndieWire. “I was with them since I was 16. It all feels right; it feels good. I still look back at Mean Girls as my best work.”

Seyfried is indeed being cast in exciting roles, recently starring in Hulu’s The Dropout as Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, a part the actor told Harpers Bazaar she “prepared like a m– for.” To prepare for a role of that nature, she said, “The first choice you have to make is no judgments when you play somebody. I can’t diagnose anybody. And I also think we’re all so nuanced. We’re built on so many different experiences, from childhood to where we are now. And I got to study. There’s a lot of information out there, and I was privy to all of it.”

Seyfried also said the most challenging part of playing the role “was continuing to play the facts. It’s so complicated. [The technology] was a great idea. I really would love it to be true one day, and I think a lot of people are working on this stuff. I’m not; my brain doesn’t work that way.”