Actor Amanda Seyfried has revealed that Blake Lively came close to winning the part of Karen Smith in Mean Girls.

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According to The Hollywood Reporter, Seyfried says that she originally read for the coveted role of Regina George opposite Lively, who read for the part of Karen.

“I’d flown out to L.A. for the first time with my mother. It was very exciting. I met Lacey Chabert for the first time, and Lindsay Lohan was in the room, and Blake Lively was playing Karen, and then I was Regina.”

Lohan had already won the part of Cady Heron, while Chabert scored the role of Gretchen Weiners. Seyfriend explains that she expected a simple yes or no from the producers. Instead, they contacted her to tell her that she would not be playing Regina, but she was perfect for the role of Karen.

Seyfried is proud of the character, who she describes as incontrovertibly authentic. She understands why audiences relate to Karen. In her view, part of what makes the character so unintentionally hilarious is her truthfulness.

“I think the reason we love Karen so much — and also the reason that she’s so funny — is that she is just being brutally honest, and it’s so beautiful, and it’s what makes her so endearing,”

Seyfield acknowledged that the character may not be the sharpest tool in the shed but pointed out that what Karen lacked in wit, she made up for in self-awareness and sincerity. She explains:

“She’s not that smart, but she totally knows it. And everything that she reacts to is just her truth, her true reaction. And I think we all love people like that because we can trust them.”

Karen is a counterweight for Regina’s aggression, Cady’s manipulativeness, and Gretchen’s palpable anxiety. Seyfried thinks that her empathy for her friends offsets her unapologetic mindlessness.

“She’s the person with the biggest heart. She truly believes that the best idea would be to go to Taco Bell and that her secret is that she is psychic and has a sports channel. How could you not fall in love with somebody who fully believes that they have ESPN?”

Even though Karen is a member of The Plastics, she’s the only well-intentioned member of the clique. Unlike her peers, she is uninterested in manipulating or exploiting other people. Moreover, Karen’s humility comes to light in the famous four-way call when Regina tells Cady that Karen is the prettiest member of the group but does not realize it and lacks the cunning that is innate to Regina to lord her attractiveness over others.

Mean Girls is streaming on Paramount Plus.