The former 'Saturday Night Live' star remembers being a 'total nerd' with 'big hair and turtle-neck sweaters' when she was in school and struggling with boys because of it.
- Feb 5, 2024
AceShowbiz - Tina Fey was unpopular with boys at school because she was a "nerd." The "Mean Girls" creator - who has brought the musical adaptation of the 2004 teen comedy blockbuster to the big screen this year - has admitted she didn't have much luck finding a boyfriend as a kid. "I was a total nerd. A theatre nerd. I was all big hair and turtle-neck sweaters. I had no luck with boys whatsoever but I was a pretty good student," she told Australia's WHO magazine.
The 53-year-old former "Saturday Night Live" writer and cast member also confessed she could be a "mean girl" like Regina George at school and that she faced her fair share of bullies. She said, "Yeah, there were real 'Mean Girls' in my life back in my high school days, for sure. In hindsight, I was maybe a 'Mean Girl' to some degree for a while."
"I remember being a freshman and an older girl coming up to me. She told me I was pretty and when I thanked her, she was like, 'Oh, so you think you're pretty?' It was a trap and I knew it. But Janis' storyline of being sucked into the whole revenge thing, sitting at the back of the class, talking about everybody else was definitely something I experienced."
"Thankfully, I got out of it. I'm 53 now, but I still think about it. I think all women, all people, have a Mean Girls moment to remember. You've either been mean, been a victim of meanness or both."
Tina - who has daughters Alice, 18, and Penelope, 12, with producer husband Jeff Richmond - says it's harder on young people today with social media making it easier to pick on people. She said, "I have daughters, I know they do. It's a lot and with social media it's all the time now."
"And it's not just girls and teenagers. It's everywhere. I actually think women are doing better now, but I think Mean Girls behaviour has kind of spread to everyone. That kind of relational aggression is everywhere."
