Character guide
Gretchen Wieners
from Mean Girls
Gretchen Wieners is the anxious, eager to please member of the Plastics in Mean Girls, Tina Fey's 2018 musical based on her own 2004 film.
- Show
- Mean Girls
- Broadway premiere
- 2018
- Role
- Supporting
- Music by
- Jeff Richmond
Who played Gretchen Wieners?
- On screen
- Lacey Chabert (2004 film), Bebe Wood (2024 movie musical)
- Originated on Broadway
- Ashley Park (2018), Tony nominated
Gretchen Wieners: from the film to Broadway
Broadway compared with the 2004 film and 2024 movie musical
Three actresses have played Gretchen Wieners in the main versions: Lacey Chabert in the 2004 film, Ashley Park in the 2018 Broadway musical (earning a Tony nomination), and Bebe Wood in the 2024 movie musical.
The musical gave Gretchen something the non-singing 2004 film could not: an inner-life song. What's Wrong with Me?, her confession that her friendship with Regina has left her with no confidence, survived the 2024 film's heavy song cuts, and Wood sings it on the movie's soundtrack.
Gretchen Wieners: role facts
- Originated on Broadway by
- Ashley Park (2018)
- Notable performers
- Krystina Alabado replaced Park on Broadway, and Bebe Wood played Gretchen in the 2024 film musical (film).
- Voice type and range
- Mezzo-soprano (belt)
- Songs Gretchen Wieners sings
- Meet the Plastics (with Regina, Karen, Janis, Damian, and Cady)
- What's Wrong with Me? (solo)
- Fearless (with Cady, Karen, and ensemble)
- What's Wrong with Me? (Reprise) (with Mrs. George)
- Whose House Is This? (with Kevin G, Cady, Karen, and ensemble)
Who is Gretchen Wieners?
Gretchen Wieners is a member of the Plastics whose desperate need for approval, particularly from Regina George, defines nearly everything she does. Wealthy and insecure in equal measure, she is constantly seeking validation and struggling with being talked over and dismissed within her own friend group.
As Cady rises within the Plastics and Regina's grip on the group weakens, Gretchen's loyalty is repeatedly tested, and her frustration at being underestimated builds toward a more assertive turn later in the show. Her arc is a study in how insecurity can curdle into cruelty when validation is withheld.
Gretchen's role in Mean Girls
Gretchen is a supporting role centered on high strung, anxious energy, most memorably expressed in her song "What's Wrong with Me," a number that lays bare her insecurity and need to be liked. The role rewards a performer who can find real pathos underneath the character's comic neediness.
Ashley Park originated the role on Broadway, earning a Tony nomination for a performance that balanced comedy and genuine vulnerability. Audiences remember Gretchen as one of the show's more sympathetic Plastics, a character whose desperation for belonging feels uncomfortably familiar.
Gretchen Wieners: frequently asked questions
Who played Gretchen Wieners in the Mean Girls movies?
Lacey Chabert played Gretchen in the 2004 film, and Bebe Wood played her in the 2024 movie musical. Ashley Park originated the role on Broadway in 2018.
What is Gretchen Wieners' personality like?
Gretchen Wieners is nervous and eager to please, Regina George's anxious second-in-command in the Plastics who is always seeking her approval. She is wealthy but deeply insecure; in the 2004 film, she is rich because her father invented Toaster Strudel.
Is it spelled Gretchen Wieners or Gretchen Weiners?
The correct spelling is Wieners, not Weiners, in the 2004 film, the Broadway musical, and the 2024 movie musical alike. The mix-up is common because the ie and ei spellings are so easy to confuse.
Who played Gretchen Wieners in the original Broadway cast of Mean Girls?
Ashley Park originated the role of Gretchen Wieners when Mean Girls opened on Broadway in 2018, earning a Tony nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. She later made a cameo as Madame Park, the school's French teacher, in the 2024 movie musical.
What song does Gretchen Wieners sing in Mean Girls?
Gretchen's big number is What's Wrong with Me?, in which she confides to Cady that her friendship with Regina has left her with no confidence in herself. A reprise returns in Act Two, which she shares with Regina's mother, Mrs. George.
What show is Gretchen Wieners from?
Gretchen Wieners is a supporting character in Mean Girls, which opened on Broadway in 2018.
Is Gretchen Wieners a lead or supporting role?
Gretchen Wieners is a supporting role, a member of the Plastics.
Who wrote the music for Mean Girls?
Jeff Richmond composed the music, with lyrics by Nell Benjamin and a book by Tina Fey.
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