All of Mean Girls’ original male stars came out as gay after iconic film’s release

Mean Girls has regularly been cited as one of the best teen comedy films of all time.

The iconic film, starring Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams, centred around Katie, a homeschooled middle-schooler who has infiltrates the ‘Plastics’, led by Regina George. The film was a smash hit when it was released in 2004, and since then, has remained a cult classic, often being rewatched on October 3, a reference to one of the lines in the film.

But while the women were the stars of the show, many he movie’s leading men also made waves. However, after the release of the film, the actors were able to come to terms with their own sexuality and declare their pride n being LGBTQ+.

READ MORE: Mean Girls star Clare Preuss looks totally different to her character 18 years later

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So, as the world celebrates Mean Girls Day, Daily Star looks at the journey the male stars of the went on before coming out.

Daniel Franzese

Daniel Frenzese shot to fame playing Damian in the original film, and whose character was described as being “too gay to function”. But behind the scenes, the actor had been hiding his true sexuality, as noughties LGBTQ+ representation was incredibly rare.

In 2014, ten years after the film premiered, Daniel revealed his sexuality – after receiving a letter from a fan that Daniel’s sassy acting nature had helped the fan to live openly as a gay man. Paraphrasing the contents of the letter in 2022, Daniel told Page Six: “I don’t know if you’re gay or not, and it doesn’t matter, but when I was in eighth grade, I was beat up for being chubby, and I was tortured every day for being a sissy.”

He went on to reveal that after the premiere of Mean Girls, the fan’s life changed forever as people said he had reminded them of Damian. This helped to give the actor the extra push to declare his sexuality in public.

His journey to coming out was not easy however, as he revealed that back in 1999, he underwent “conversion therapy” to make him heterosexual. He admitted that at the time he was “brainwashed”, but was soon able to recognise his sexuality after the film.

Jonathan Bennett

Playing the role of the heartthrob Aaron Samuels, Jonathan Bennett soon became the pin-up for teenage girls across the world in 2004 after the film was released. However, the actor would shatter hearts in 2017, when he revealed that he was also gay.

In November of 2020, Jonathan – who has also starred in the likes of Cheaper By the Dozen – got engaged to his partner, Celebrity Page presenter Jaymes Vaughn. The couple tied the knot in March 2022 in Mexico, though there was some pushback as the resort owner refused to allow their wedding due to their sexuality.

Jonathan said he looks back fondly of his experience on the set of Mean Girls and praised writers for including an openly queer character. “Damien was such an important part to a lot of high school kids for this generation,” he confessed.

Rajiv Surendra

Rajiv Surendra played creepy Kevin Gnapoor in the teen classic, who consistently tried to rizz up the Plastics, but failing miserably. Known for his “Bad-Ass M.C.” rap persona, Kevin would eventually land himself a girl in the form of Janis at the end of the film, who had been heckled for supposedly being a lesbian.

But in 2018, fourteen years after the release of film, actor Rajiv revealed he was gay in a unorthodox manner. His declaration came in an interview with the Washington Post as he was promoting his memoir, The Elephants in My Backyard.

The newspaper said of the star: “Surendra’s sexual awakening as a gay man is related with a sweetness and openness that could inspire other teenagers.” Rajiv’s film career was short but sweet, deciding back to pull back from the acting world after being snubbed for Ang Lee’s “Life of Pi” movie.

However, since then, Rajiv has found other forms of success – including becoming a popular chef on Youtube. He has praised the most recent adaptation of the film, attending the premiere wearing a Mathlete’s jacket – a reference to the original film.

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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk