If the name Glen Coco means anything to you, you're probably well aware that on Tuesday, Entertainment Weekly had a Mean Girls reunion that also served as a sort of tenth anniversary celebration. However, many of our favorite characters weren't represented in the photo shoot nor the interview. Only Tina Fey, Lindsay Lohan, and the three Plastics were included — it was like the Spring Fling Queen election all over again. One of the people fans sorely miss is Daniel Franzese, who played Damian in the 2004 comedy. I spoke with Franzese shortly after EW's interview was published and asked him how he thinks Damian would feel about being left out of a reunion. "Um, the same way I did, I have a cracked iPhone screen," Franzese says, before laughing and quickly reassuring me that he's kidding.
Really, Franzese only has great things to say about the film that's remained a pop culture fixation since its release, and is even interested in returning to it in a new way. But he's quick to downplay how Damian's role may have helped make Mean Girls so memorable. "I think that it's a testament to Tina Fey’s writing, the perfect casting from Marci Liroff and Susan Shopmaker, who never get mentioned and should, and just the people involved," he says. "It was the right chemistry at the right time. We were the first popular teen movie, really, that had the Internet. So that kind of helped a lot too. But it is so damn quotable, isn't it?"
The movie has remained so popular that Fey is turning it into a musical, and if you thought you were excited to hear your favorite lines in song form, prepare to freak out. When I mention to Franzese, who is eager to show fans his musical talents, that many people would love to see him in Fey's Mean Girls musical, he says, "I told her I’ll play Coach Carr." And this time, he isn't kidding.
"I would totally do it, but my part should definitely go to some new, young kid who deserves to go there and do that," he says, confirming that he did tell Fey he'd like to be involved. "I would sing the 'don’t have sex or get pregnant and die' song. I would totally sing that song." The only thing better than Franzese reprising his role as Damian might be Franzese playing Coach Carr.
Unfortunately, the Mean Girls musical probably won't exist for a while (don't worry though, this isn't a limit-type situation — it'll happen), but that just gives Franzese and Fey more time to come up with more great musical numbers for Coach Carr. And if Franzese does get to be a part of it, I think it's safe to say he'll be much better received by Broadway audiences than Jason and the rest of the Winter Talent Show attendees.
Image: Giphy
