Mean Girls 'Sequel' Ignites Rachel McAdams Speculation: Where Is Regina George?

Fans are buzzing about the "Mean Girls" reunion in this Walmart commercial — and they're wondering why Rachel McAdams didn't reprise her role as Regina George.

Lindsay Lohan, Lacey Chabert, Amanda Seyfried, Daniel Franzese, and Rajiv Surendra all returned for the commercial — as Cady Heron, Gretchen Wieners, Karen Smith, Damian Leigh, and Kevin Gnapoor, respectively — which brings audiences back to the original movie's setting of North Shore High School. Cady's now the school's guidance counselor, Karen is (for some reason) still doing terrible weather reports, Damian is still helping with the lighting for the holiday talent shows, and Gretchen and Kevin are proud parents, with the former still trying to make "fetch" happen.

Lizzy Caplan, who played bad girl Janis Ian, is also notably absent, but fans are definitely fixating on Regina. Over on X (formerly known as Twitter), people had questions about why McAdams wasn't in the commercial, like @TheBaddestMitch, who wrote, "Rachel mcadams was too good to answer her phone??????" @andisayHEYY agreed, responding to that post and writing, "Like this was a pretty good commercial and all but damn it feels incomplete." They make a good point. It feels strange to see the Plastics — the clique Regina led in the movie — without their queen bee present.

Also responding to @TheBaddestMitch's original post, @AnarchyHabitat had a simple question about the commercial's budget: "Missy [Elliott] in the commercial and they're using her song, with all the other originals? Lol that salary cap was enough it seems." @TheDejaKing, though, just seemed surprised that anybody said yes at all, writing, "In her defense, I feel like they all are actually too good for a Walmart commercial and really the brand of Walmart altogether (although admittedly this came out super cute and was really well done)." @yoga_doll shared that sentiment, posting, "In her defence she's way [too] good for Walmart."

Some people had explanations for Rachel McAdams' absence from the commercial, all of which were related to Regina's narrative in the movie. @jessiliza87 wrote, "She still recovering from getting hit by the bus!" @tabihobi chalked it up to Regina's total disdain for the people in her life, writing, "Honestly I feel like Regina not showing up is pretty on brand for her character. Like realistically she probably wouldn't still be friends with them." @eveningsalone responded to that theory wondering about Lizzy Caplan instead of McAdams: "Yup! Folks forget that at the end of the film she's with the field hockey team. She moved on then, her not being there makes total sense. I wanna know where Janis is."

"Mean Girls" is such an iconic part of Rachel McAdams' filmography that it's easy to forget it was incredibly early in her career ... and that it was followed more or less immediately by "The Notebook." After that, though, McAdams started booking more diverse roles in comedies like "Wedding Crashers," dramas like "State of Play," and buzzy adaptations like "The Time Traveler's Wife."

By 2015, McAdams was a bonafide star, leading films like "Midnight in Paris," the underrated romantic comedy "About Time," and starring in Oscar-winning fare like "Spotlight." 2016 saw the actor join the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Christine Palmer, love interest to Benedict Cumberbatch's titular character in "Doctor Strange," and in 2018, she showed off the comedic chops we all saw in "Mean Girls" in the phenomenal ensemble comedy "Game Night."

McAdams reprised her role in "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" in 2022, but one of her most acclaimed roles yet came in 2023 with "Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret." McAdams' supporting turn as Barbara Simon, the supportive and loving mom to Margaret (Abby Ryder Fortson), is one of her most heartfelt performances yet, which is really saying something ... and she's already being submitted as a potential player for the upcoming awards season.

In any case, McAdams is busy, so the simplest explanation is probably the correct one: she just didn't have time for a Walmart commercial right now.