It's October 3rd—and Yes, Jonathan Bennett Knows What Day It Is

We all know the meme. It's everywhere on October 3rd. And no one is more familiar with it than Mean Girls's very own Aaron Samuels, Jonathan Bennett.

Bennett told me in our exclusive sit-down, "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." October 3rd, otherwise known as Mean Girls Day, has become a cultural phenomenon since the film's debut back in 2004.

And in honor of this year's holiday, the General Hospital star is partnering with Ninja for the launch of the Ninja PREPi (yes, it comes in pink, duh), the new food prep and storage system in one. I chatted with Samuels Bennett about the partnership (which he credits for his soap opera abs—more on that below), Mean Girls and, obviously, the true meaning of October 3rd.

So, why is Mean Girls Day so fetch? Bennett has some thoughts.

"It's such a big deal because Mean Girls is more than a movie. It's part of people's lives. This is ingrained in pop culture. It's the way people dress as it for Halloween. People quote it in their daily speak. People text the memes to each other. When someone asks me what day it is, even on a random day, my reaction is always to say it's October 3rd."

Bennett doesn't get sick of the memes or of talking about the movie though. He has nothing but gratitude for the film.

"I know a lot of actors, when they get famous for a role, as their career builds and evolves, they try to lean away from it. I would never do that, because I owe my entire life to Mean Girls. I owe every job that I have, I owe everything that I do in the entertainment industry, because Tina Fey and Lorne Michaels and Mark Waters believed in me and gave me a shot at being Aaron Samuels."

"No matter how many movies and TV shows I do, you're always Aaron Samuels. And that's a good thing."

I asked a few speed round Mean Girls questions, and I got quite the BTS scoop.

The line he quotes the most? "'You can go shave your back now.' Because my husband and I have to trim each other's neck and back hair, so I say that to my husband all the time."

What other character would he want to play? "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."

Where is Aaron now? "Like teachers you see on TikTok that are in their late thirties? He would be a teacher, one of the cool TikTok teachers."

What about former costar Lacey Chabert becoming the Queen of Christmas to his King of Christmas? "Lacey and I have known each other for 20-some years. She is one of the most lovely, kind people you will ever meet, not only in the industry, but in the world. They don't make them like Lacey Chabert. She is a unicorn of unicorns. Getting to work with her in Mean Girls was a huge blessing, but getting to continue our friendship and our working relationship with Hallmark Channel is just the icing on a perfect Christmas cake."