Jonathan Bennett surprises stars of high school Mean Girls production

"You guys, stop trying to make fetch happen."

Jonathan Bennett isn't afraid of a few Mean Girls.

The actor best known for playing the North Shore hottie who catches the eye of Lindsay Lohan's Cady Heron and Rachel McAdams' Regina George is 19 years removed from the horrors of his fictional high school, but he decided to head back to a real one for a little surprise.

On Saturday, the Hallmark star shared a video of his recent visit to a local high school production of Mean Girls. After getting an invitation from the mother of the young actor playing his character, Aaron Samuels, Bennett went to meet the cast ahead of their opening-night performance.

Jonathan Bennett attends the 34th Annual GLAAD Media Awards hosted by Ketel One Family Made Vodka on May 13, 2023 in New York City.
'Mean Girls' star Jonathan Bennett. Craig Barritt/Getty

"So the local high school's doing Mean Girls, and tonight's their dress rehearsal, so I'm gonna go surprise them," Bennett says in the video. "I was one of these theater kids in high school, so I'm excited to do this."

The sweet interaction starts with a classic Mean Girls reference: "You guys, stop trying to make fetch happen," Bennett says as he enters the roomful of shocked student actors. "It's not going to happen."

After he's met with applause, Bennett greets each of the performers with teasing remarks. "Oh, no, watch out for that one," he warns the class after shaking hands with the actress playing Gretchen Wieners (portrayed by Lacey Chabert in the movie). Then, after meeting the show's Regina George, Bennett declares her "even worse."

The biggest reaction of all comes when Bennett meets the actor playing his character Aaron Samuels. Bennett gets down on his knees and bows to the teen, who says, "Please, the honor is mine."

Bennett later offers advice to the cast ahead of the dress rehearsal. "You're going to be great," he assures the actress taking on Lohan's role as Cady. "It's not up to you to worry about what Lindsay did or what people on Broadway did. It's about you doing what you want to do."

Though Bennett has officially ceded power to the next generation of Aaron Samuels, he may still return to the Mean Girls Universe. An upcoming movie musical, adapted from the Broadway version of the film, will feature a new cast, but he has hinted he could make an appearance in it.

"There's some talks going on about certain things," Bennett told PEOPLE earlier this year at the 34th GLAAD Media Awards. "Let's just say that."

Tina Fey, who penned the script for both the original 2004 movie and the Broadway musical, will produce the new movie musical adaptation alongside Lorne Michaels. Stars include Angourie Rice, Reneé Rapp, Auli'i Cravalho, and Jaquel Spivey, who will star as Cady, Regina, Janis, and Damian, respectively. Arturo Perez and Samantha Jayne will direct.

Meanwhile, the original Plastics have each expressed interest in returning to the Mean Girls universe, though McAdams has said she doesn't quite see how they would fit into the story.

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