Jonathan Bennett says October 3rd still points straight back to Aaron Samuels, and he is not trying to outrun it. The Mean Girls star says the role shaped his career so completely that he would never lean away from it, even as the film’s annual date has become a fixed part of his public life.
“200 years ago, when we shot Mean Girls, I didn't expect that when a little red-haired, freckle-faced girl told me what day it was, that it would become a national holiday, but it is,” Bennett said. He added that Mean Girls is “more than a movie” and described it as part of people’s lives, culture, daily language, and meme exchange. When people ask him what day it is, even on a random day, he says his reaction is always to answer, “it's October 3rd.”
Mean Girls Day and October 3rd
Bennett’s comments land on October 3rd, the date tied to Mean Girls Day, which keeps the 2004 film active in a way most teen comedies never stay active. He said he did not expect that line to become a national holiday, a sign of how one quote can outlast the original release and keep an actor linked to a role for years.
He framed that permanence as part of the job now. “No matter how many movies and TV shows I do, you're always Aaron Samuels. And that's a good thing,” he said. That line captures the upside and the limit of the role at the same time: it keeps Bennett visible, but it also fixes his public identity to one character.
Aaron Samuels still pays
Bennett said he would never lean away from Aaron Samuels because he owes his entire life to Mean Girls. He credited Tina Fey, Lorne Michaels and Mark Waters with believing in him and giving him a shot at the part, making the film not just a credit but the base of his entertainment career.
He also said he most often quotes “You can go shave your back now.” The reason is plain enough: “my husband and I have to trim each other's neck and back hair,” so the line still works at home as much as it did on screen. That kind of carryover is why the Aaron Samuels association keeps renewing itself instead of fading.
Lacey Chabert and Hallmark Channel
Bennett said he and Lacey Chabert have known each other for 20-some years, and he called working with her on Mean Girls a huge blessing. He then tied that history to Hallmark Channel, saying continuing their friendship and working relationship there is “the icing on a perfect Christmas cake.”
He said he would want to play Karen Smith, and he singled out Amanda Seyfried’s version of the character as the reason. “Karen Smith. Every time she says anything in that movie, I laugh. Amanda Seyfried is such a brilliant genius in that character, and I would love to do it. She has all the good lines,” he said.
Ninja PREPi and the October 3rd boost
The October 3rd interview also sits alongside Bennett’s current partnership with Ninja PREPi, which adds a commercial layer to the same public attention that Mean Girls Day brings every year. For an actor whose best-known role still drives the conversation, that pairing gives the date a business value: the meme keeps him relevant, and the partnership gives that relevance a place to land.
He said Aaron Samuels would probably be a teacher in his late thirties, “one of the cool TikTok teachers.” That is the clearest next stop for the character Bennett still owns in the public imagination: not a sequel, but another October 3rd, where the quote returns and the role keeps doing work for him.
