Mean Girl fans are desperate to find out who was originally cast as Aaron Samuels in the 2004 film after Jonathan Bennett admitted he was technically the second choice.
During a Hallmark Channel panel, Jonathan, 43, explained that he wasn’t originally cast as the heartthrob in Lindsay Lohan’s film.
‘Here’s the tea. “I wasn’t the original Aaron Samuels,” he told the crowd in a viral TikTok video shared by Holly Bee. “I’m a recast.”
The Veronica Mars actor later gave a lengthy version of the story on ‘CliffsNotes,’ explaining how he auditioned for the film and made Lindsay blush on camera, which impressed the director.
They told him he was going to get the role and he didn’t, so he “went back to folding sweaters at Abercrombie & Fitch.”
The Hallmark Christmas movie star admitted that they hired another actor with blonde hair and blue eyes, who looked like Paul Walker and Brad Pitt, which was what was “in style at the time.”
Paramount president Sherry Lansing cast the unnamed blue-eyed actor, even though Jonathan knew he was the choice of producer Lorne Michael, writer Tina Fey and star Lindsay.
However, the first actor didn’t end up impressing the creators during the table read and was quickly replaced by Jonathan.
Mean Girl fans are desperate to find out who was originally cast as Aaron Samuels in the 2004 film after Jonathan Bennett admitted he was technically the second choice.
During a Hallmark Channel panel, Jonathan, 43, explained that he wasn’t originally cast as the heartthrob in Lindsay Lohan’s film.
Paramount president Sherry Lansing hired the anonymous blue-eyed actor, although Jonathan knew it was producer Lorne Michael, writer Tina Fey and star Lindsay.
“It was just super awkward,” Jonathan said, adding that the initial star was “mumbling” during the table read, and Lorne was used to flawless reads from his time on Saturday Night Live.
The first actor also wore baggy sweatpants, a baggy hoodie, and a hat.
He also didn’t recognize his co-star, Tim Meadows, who was SNL’s longest-serving actor.
The team ended up calling Paramount and hiring Jonathan, who was still working at Abercrombie and folding sweaters without a shirt.
Jonathan received a call from his manager during his 15-minute break and was told he had booked the role.
He ended up putting the shirt back on and leaving the mall store after quitting.
Jonathan said he wouldn’t reveal the name of the original actor, but many super sleuths rushed to the comments to try to figure out which early years actor was meant to play the high school jock.
Principal photography began on September 27 and wrapped on November 25, 2003 and the film was released on April 30, 2004, so many of the potential actors named were filming other projects at the time.
Many rom-com fans of the early aughts thought the original heartthrob was James Franco, as he was famously considered for the role, but didn’t have blonde hair or blue eyes.
Ryan Gosling, star of The Notebook, which was filmed between November 2002 and February 2003, leaving him available, was another popular answer.
Others theorized that the Mean Girls cast member could have been Ben McKenzie (left) or Chris Carmack (right), who starred in the teen TV show The OC.
One of the top guesses was Chad Michael Murray, who at the time was starring on the WB show One Tree Hill as basketball player Lucas Scott.
Ryan Reynolds was another guess, who starred in the 2002 Van Wilder film, but apparently would have been available to film Mean Girls.
Many early rom-com fans thought the original heartthrob was James Franco, as he was famously considered for the role.
The Freaks and Geeks actor doesn’t have blonde hair or blue eyes, but he does have a penchant for mumbling.
Ryan Gosling, star of The Notebook, which was filmed between November 2002 and February 2003, leaving him available, was another popular answer.
Others theorized that the Mean Girls cast member could have been Ben McKenzie or Chris Carmack, who starred in the teen TV show The OC.
One commenter summed it up when he said, “Anyone else like Aaron Samuels would have ruined the whole movie.”