Jaquel Spivey expresses his gratitude with THR on the red carpet for 'Mean Girls' and calls playing Damian "a dream come true."
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00:00 How exciting is it to be here and finally have this film out into the world?
00:03 Honestly, it really is a dream come true. That's all I can keep saying, it's a dream come true. We did it. We did it.
00:08 Well, the trailer said that this isn't your mother's Mean Girls.
00:11 How do you think that this film connects to a new generation?
00:14 I think it connects because we didn't have social media in '04.
00:18 So now we get to see what life is like with a Burn Book and with an iPhone or Android, if that's your thing.
00:23 And just what life is like for teenagers now.
00:27 Like a Burn Book IG account.
00:29 Right, exactly. Right, right.
00:30 Insane. What was the musical prep process like?
00:33 The musical process was extremely exciting. We had an amazing music team to bring that together with our director Kyle Hanagami,
00:41 and then our directors Samantha, Art, and then Tina Fey always being there. It was a great time.
00:47 Was there a musical number that was particularly fun or even particularly difficult to shoot?
00:53 Revenge Party was both difficult and both fun, but it's also a good time.
00:57 All of the cast is in it, all of the dancers, everybody brought their best foot forward for that number.
01:03 I also talked to Daniel Franzese, who played Damien in the original film.
01:08 He said he didn't get a chance to meet you yet.
01:10 Tonight. It'll be tonight that I get to meet him and I get to say thank you in person.
01:14 How great was it to watch him in the film and kind of follow in those footsteps,
01:18 but also make it your own because it's also based off of the show and your own personality and your own take on it?
01:23 Yeah, he was the only plus-size queer character that I had, plus-size queer boy that I saw on screen.
01:29 And to see a shoe thrown at his face and to see him throw it back and reclaim his power as a queer man,
01:35 honestly was like everything to me when I was younger.
01:38 So the fact that I get to step in those shoes and continue his legacy, continue the legacy that he started,
01:44 he is the blueprint, I honor him, I honor Tina, I honor everybody in the '04 film and the Broadway cast.
01:50 Finally, I have to ask, this is of course an iconic, based off of an iconic film.
01:55 What other early 2000s film would you love to see as a musical next?
01:59 Ooh, early 2000s film. I'm gonna say Last Holiday with Queen Latifah.
02:05 Many people don't know it, but they should.
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