Lacey Chabert’s new movie Hot Frosty features a nod to her Mean Girls costar Lindsay Lohan — and she’s thrilled about the “full circle” moment.
The Netflix film, which hit the streaming platform on Wednesday, November 13, shows a glimpse of Lohan’s holiday movie Falling for Christmas when Jack Snowman (Dustin Milligan) — who is in fact a magical snowman who turns into a hunky human man — is watching TV.
Chabert’s character, widow Kathy Barrett, then remarks that the leading lady on TV looks just like someone she went to high school with, alluding to her and Lohan’s Mean Girls roles.
“I don’t know whose idea it was, but when I heard of the idea of referencing Lindsay … I loved it,” Chabert, 42, exclusively told Us Weekly on Wednesday during a joint interview with Milligan, 39. “It’s perfect and I’m so happy. This is all full circle.”
Chabert added that it’s “so nice” that she and Lohan, 38, both have new Netflix holiday movies out this year. (Lohan’s Our Little Secret premieres on November 27.)
“We’ve known each other since we were little kids. We’re both moms now,” said Chabert, who shares daughter Julia, 8, with husband David Nehdar. “I’m so happy we’re still on the journey together.”
Chabert and Lohan, who starred as Gretchen Wieners and Cady Heron, respectively, in 2004’s Mean Girls, reunited on Thursday, November 14.
“So fetch catching up with my girl @thereallacey,” Lohan, who shares son Luai, 15, months, with husband Bader Shammas, wrote via her Instagram Story alongside a photo of the pair.
After starring in the irreverent Mean Girls, Chabert’s career took a more wholesome turn as she began starring in family-friendly Hallmark Channel films. While Hot Frosty’s cheeky title points to a slightly raunchier viewing experience than Chabert’s usual fare, she was drawn to the project for similar reasons.
“There has to be something in every movie I do that I relate [to] and that hits my heart. It’s like, ‘What is the real arc for the character?’ … And for this character Kathy, she’s trying to overcome her grief [after losing her husband], which is something that’s so relatable and unfortunately a situation that so many people find themselves in,” said Chabert, whose sister, Wendy, died at age 46 in 2021. “I relate to it personally, and I think there’s so many beautiful messages in this [film] and the way that it was written that I hope will bring some hope to people and inspire people during the holiday season.”
The Netflix original also has plenty of comedy, which Chabert says was “really fun” to lean into.
“I really admired your physical comedy,” she told Milligan, who shared that he was inspired by comedians including Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton.
“Just anybody who was really leaning into the physical comedy in any of their roles and sort of experiencing the world brand new for the first time,” he said, pointing to films with naive protagonists including Elf and 13 Going on 30. “That was what I was focused on, is just how can I emulate some of that and try to at least reach the heights that all those people have done before me.”
Milligan added that it was important for him to be “as uninhibited physically as [he] possibly” could be, and said he felt “very safe with Lacey as a partner.”
“The discovery and the comedy that came out of that was just so much fun to play,” he said. “There’s probably, like, an extra hour and a half [of footage] just of cut out improv and bloopers and stuff.”
“And us laughing,” Chabert chimed in.
Hot Frosty is now streaming on Netflix
With reporting by Travis Cronin