Claim: Rachel McAdams was in a film.

Mean Girls is a 2004 American teen comedy film directed by Mark Waters and written by Tina Fey . The film is based in part on Rosalind Wiseman 's non-fiction self-help book Queen Bees and Wannabes , which describes female high school social cliques and the damaging effects they can have on girls .   Saturday Night Live -LRB- SNL -RRB- creator Lorne Michaels produced the film . Tina Fey , screenwriter and co-star of the film , was a long-term cast member and writer for SNL . The film stars Lindsay Lohan , Rachel McAdams , Tina Fey , Lacey Chabert , Lizzy Caplan , Daniel Franzese , Jonathan Bennett and Amanda Seyfried -LRB- in her film debut -RRB- , and features appearances from SNL cast members Tim Meadows , Ana Gasteyer , and Amy Poehler . The film marks Lohan 's second collaboration with director Waters , the first being Freaky Friday -LRB- 2003 -RRB- , released a year earlier . Although set in Evanston , Illinois -LRB- a wealthy Chicago suburb -RRB- , the film was mostly shot in Toronto , Ontario , Canada . The film grossed $ 129 million worldwide .   Mean Girls has developed a cult status in the years following its release . A direct-to-TV sequel , Mean Girls 2 , was released in 2011 .