Back in December, we participated in the giving tree program through our elementary school. Our family’s recipient was a 14-year-old girl who wanted Chuck Taylors, jeans, and had a list of “vintage” pop culture-related t-shirts, all with artists’ or actors’ faces on them. I was particularly intrigued because every shirt was from when I was in high school or college, like Britney Spears, Eminem, and Clueless. I easily found the first two items on the list, but got stuck trying to find an early Eninem shirt. (It was #1 on her list.) After striking out while walking around the mall, I discovered a “nostalgia store” tucked away that was just t-shirts and posters from musicians/bands, TV/movies, and anime. They had merch for a ton of familiar properties, including one of my favorite movies, Mean Girls.
When Mean Girls came out in 2004, it launched so many actor’s careers. Lindsay Lohan and Lacey Chabert were already well known, but it really put Rachel McAdams, Amanda Seyfried, and Lizzy Caplan on the map. I’d argue that Chabert owes her Hallmark career to the fame she gained from Mean Girls. Amanda Seyfried just did Actors on Actors with Adam Brody. During one of their exchanges, she revealed that although it’s super fun to see her face on people’s t-shirts, she doesn’t get any royalty money from Paramount for it.
It looks like Amanda Seyfried may add Paramount Pictures to her burn book. The Mean Girls alum called out the studio for allegedly using her “likeness” on merchandise for the 2004 teen classic without providing her proper compensation.
“I really love seeing my face on people’s T shirts,” Amanda told Adam Brody during a conversation for Variety’s Actors on Actors series published June 9. “I mean, I’m a little resentful, because Paramount still owes me some money.”
But while the Mamma Mia star noted that “every store sells Mean Girls T-shirts” with photographs of her and costars Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams and Lacey Chabert’s faces on them, she also acknowledged that she wasn’t exactly sure how she ended up without royalties for the comedy movie’s merch.
As she put it, “I don’t know if it was because I was 17 and dumb or what.”
Whatever the reason, Amanda insisted it hasn’t made the experience of seeing fans wear apparel with her face on it any less grool.
“I love it,” the actress said. “Like even the girl at TSA [said], ‘Mean Girls, my favorite movie.’ And I’m like, ‘Wait!’ I was 17. I had nothing to do with it.”
This sounds like a classic case of a Hollywood studio taking advantage of a young actor. I tried to find out whether or not the other main actresses receive royalties for clothing and other merch. I couldn’t find anything concrete, but from Amanda’s interview, it sounds like none of them do. If true, that’s wild! My best guess is that back in 2004, no one had any idea that Mean Girls was going to be such a cult classic that kids who weren’t even born yet would be wearing shirts promoting it. That said, Amanda, Lindsay, Lacey, and Rachel all have a lot of star power now. I wonder if, moving forward, they could negotiate something on the back end to get the money they deserve.
photos via Amazon and credit: mpi099/MediaPunch/INSTARimages, Franck Castel/Abaca Press/INSTARimages, Getty
I think it’s a combination of not knowing, studios dealing with young actors and perhaps inexperienced, or less experienced agents and managers.
I listen to the Office Ladies podcast and they regularly talk about how they don’t get money from merch, the Netflix deal, Peacock and the now supersized episodes running, etc. and their residuals are next to nothing. IIRC the only reason Jenna Fischer and John Krasinski make a bit more since it wrapped is they were made producers the final few seasons.
They gotta save that money for Trump…
Was merchandising a thing then or even now? I can understand for kids and superhero movies that it would be part of the contract. But I wonder if it would be brought up for other movie genres.
Forgive me for bursting out laughing at your last sentence. … The answer = not a chance in hell.
That nostalgia store sounds fun – any luck finding the Eminen shirt?
Yeah, I figured not a chance in hell lol but maybe throw it out there into the Universe anyway.
I did find the Eminem shirt! They only had adult sizes, though. I guess they didn’t expect at 14-year-old girl to want one! I was just happy to find it.
Sure, her face is on that shirt, but you could argue that everyone who worked on that movie should get residuals for the merch. It isn’t her work product alone that made the movie so popular.