Lacey Chabert who memorably played Gretchen Wieners in the 2004 cult classic comedy-drama Mean Girls recalled a hilarious incident from the sets of the film. Remember the iconic Jingle Bell Rock dance sequence? According to Chabert, she tried hard not to laugh and break her character during that scene.
“Dancing is not my strongest suit,” the actress told People magazine. Although she admittedly gotten better at the time she couldn’t help but mess up the steps. “I just remember Mark Waters, the director, who’s just wonderful, yelling out, definitely more than once, ‘Cut. Lacey’s offbeat. Someone help her,’ ” Chabert recalled.
However, in retrospect, her awkward dancing made perfect sense because her character gets replaced from her original spot by Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) before they begin the dance. “I just remember every day of that movie laughing and trying not to laugh, trying not to break character,” she added.
The moment when Gretchen kicked the stereo off the stage was the hardest for the actress to maintain her composure and serious face. Chabert insisted that if the scene is observed closely people could spot her almost breaking her character and laugh. It was such a fun scene to film,” she added.
The dance sequence remains iconic to this day and is often used as a pop culture reference. Ariana Grande famously created a parody of that dance in her Thank You, Next music video in 2018 featuring her as one of the ‘mean girls’ and Kris Jenner as the mom desperately trying to film the performance.
Chabert might not have aced the Jingle Bell Rock dance routine, but she definitely earned several projects based on the Holiday season including her 40 Hallmark Christmas movies. “My happy place is Christmas Eve, when I was, 5, 6 or 7 years old in Mississippi,” she told the outlet. “I try to infuse that feeling into the movies that we make now, no matter what they’re about,” Chabert added.
This Holiday season, she’s teaming up with Russell Stover to brighten up other people’s Christmas through the brand’s Make Happy Memories with Russell Stover contest. “I love that because it’ll be an opportunity to create new memories,” Charbert said.
