Interview: English Bernhardt of MEAN GIRLS at National Arts Centre

Broadway Across Canada is bringing Mean Girls to Ottawa's National Arts Centre next week. I met up with English Bernhardt during their current leg of the tour in Massachusetts to chat briefly about the show.

How are you enjoying the tour so far?

It's been great! We have had eighteen one-weekers in row, so we have been traveling every week for the last eighteen weeks nonstop. We are really looking forward to getting to Canada because we will finally have a sit-down! After Ottawa, we have four weeks in Toronto then we get to Los Angeles for a big chunk of time and then to San Francisco, so we feel like we have gotten through the trenches of the hard schedule touring and we are very excited. But we have had some really incredible audiences and almost sold-out houses, so we feel fortunate that we've been able to hit these cities after the tours were postponed for so long. So, we are just thrilled to be here!

You've covered three lead roles in Mean Girls: Cady, Regina, and Janis - which one is your favourite to play and why?

You know, I feel like I have to say Cady, right? Since I play Cady full-time now...

You don't have to say Cady!

I guess I feel like Cady is the most natural for me; I really relate to her; I feel very grounded playing her; it's comfortable. But, as you said, before that, I was the standby for all three roles and they could not be more different as characters! Janice is so completely different from me as a person: she is so artistic and naturally cool without trying. She wears these cool clothes, lots of eyeliner and is so edgy and she knows who she is. Regina is this commanding, mean, Queen-Bee girl - and I never get to play the mean girls ever! - so it was just incredible to play all three. Truthfully, there are things that I miss about all of them and things that I love about all of them, but I think to play a character eight times a week, I'm in the right track with Cady.

Is there any part of Cady's high school experience that you can relate to?

Definitely! I think that Cady's biggest issue is that she loses her way as she is trying to fit in and find her groove and where she belongs. I think that's something we all struggle with; I know I did. You know, wanting to be on the track team and be the sporty girl, but also be in the school musicals and in choir. Then I wouldn't get to go to school dances because I had practice for a play or something. I just felt like I was spread really thin. The same with friend groups too; you want to be in with the popular kids. I wanted to be seen as the cool kid, but I was too scared to party. I was very much a goody two-shoes and I didn't want to have a fake ID but I wanted to be cool and hang with them! There are a lot of times that I was embarrassed to think that I would have to miss out for theatre or shows even though that was my passion then and it still is now.

If you could go back to high school days, what would you say to that fourteen- or sixteen-year-old you?

I think that, looking back, I would just say, "Don't be embarrassed; be who you are; this is what you are good at. This is what you were born to do. It's okay to be missing the winter formal. Those kids will not judge you. What makes you unique and different and special is what is so beautiful about you. So, try to not conform to other friend groups and people and personalities and be yourself."

Which part of Cady's role is the most fun to play, the Plastic Cady or the Good Girl Cady?

Actually, the in-between Cady is the most fun for me to play because you kind of have to tap into both versions. I really love those transitional moments where she is still herself: this nerdy, naïve, sweet, grounded girl who grew up in Africa and doesn't know anything about this life, or high school, or social cues. But she's trying. So, at one point, she has this outfit on, but she hasn't quite nailed it yet - there's just a little something off. So those are honestly my favourites because they are so relatable, right? Like you're trying so hard, but you just can't quite get it.

The beginning, too, is really fun to play - just to be so stripped down and naïve and wide eyed and bushy tailed. Experiencing it all for the first time like she does: this new town, new culture, new school, new friend groups, new outfits, phones - all this stuff is exciting and it's fun to kind of get to see it through her eyes. She just gets hit with so much constantly that it's never a dull moment!

Do you have a favourite moment from the show? It doesn't have to be a musical number; it can be anything, and it doesn't even have to be your moment.

Oh, gosh, there are so many! A favourite of mine... I would say I have two. One is at the very beginning. At the very beginning I sing a song called "It Roars", and it's just me by myself on this blank stage with this incredible orchestra in these beautiful theatres, and it is just a surreal moment for me. Especially with everything we have been through, with the pandemic and theatre coming back, and with my own journey in the show - now taking over Cady full-time - it is just a wonderful moment, and it kick starts the show. It's like, this train is moving for the next two hours and forty-five minutes and I have to get on board!

And then, near the end of the show, I address the whole company on stage. We are at the school's Spring Fling, where they crown the contest winner and I have to speak to everyone on stage and tell them how incredible they are. Cady says that she has learned that she is better off just being who she is, but for me, personally, it's a moment where I can look my fellow cast members in the face and say, "I love you; and we've gotten through another one of these". It's really, really, special for me. The interaction with the cast was one of the things that I missed when I was a standby. When you are not on, you're just backstage waiting. It's so special to be out there with them every night - whether it's on our hard shows, or on our tired days - I'm like, "Here I am - I'm looking at you and we made it!".

But, honestly, every character has at least one, if not two, special moments, but there is one particular moment in our last number of Act I called "Fearless", and they call this dance section "The Underdogs" - there are three girls in our ensemble who do this incredible dance. They kind of start the group number and then people join in, and it's just this incredible moment. A girl in our ensemble, Kaitlyn Louise Smith, she is the pinnacle - she is the centre - and she gives 300% every show, every single day, and she is out there front and centre, beaming, and then the whole cast joins in. Just the spirit and the energy in that scene is so special to watch.

I'll remember that so I can be on the lookout for her.

Trust me, you will spot her quickly because she is fabulous!

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​I understand that the show includes the use of social media to update it to more modern times, since social media was virtually non-existent at the time the movie was released. How important was it to update the show to reflect the modern reality of high school?

Information can be shared so easily on social media. It can be so widespread and so quick...one click and it's gone and then its everywhere. And with cyber bullying... imagine the Burn Book being online! Oh my gosh, it gives me chills to think what that would be like. I think it is so important that they added social media to the story because it makes you sit back and realize that this is a real thing that's part of our culture and society. And it can do major, major damage. It's scary; its out of your control - and once something is out here, its out there and you can't get it back... I can't even imagine! When I was growing up, we had some social media and cell phones, but I'm so grateful that it was not to the point that it is now. If something gets out there, it can be mortifying and humiliating and it's just not fair. So that's one thing that's good about the show because it makes you mindful of that - even to think, "oh my gosh, if this were my child" ...

But it's also nice because it's just so visually pleasing. There are these cute LED screens and they have done such an incredible, smart, job incorporating all these photos and memes and videos and things that are so normal to us now, that it helps to elevate the show in a way that I think people will love.

What do you think is the biggest takeaway from the show? What message do you want audiences to walk away with?

I think it's all the stuff we have been talking about wrapped up into one. Like you don't need to try to fit in - at work, in school, in life... This is a nice reminder just to be yourself and know that the characteristics, talents, quirks, and passions that you bring to the table is what makes you so special. Also, like we were saying with social media, it is a scary world out there. You may say something that you didn't really mean or that could really affect someone else in a way that you didn't intend but, once it's out there, it's gone and it's too late to take it back. So, I think it's a reminder to be kind to others, believe in yourself, try new things, and put yourself out there like Cady does. She kind of tries and fails at a lot of it, but you have to try!

It is a wonderful show... and it's also about falling in love, making new friends, and becoming the person that you're meant to be. So, I think that's another reminder - that in life, as we get knocked down, it's all part of the road to becoming the person that we are meant to be (even when it doesn't feel like it!).

That is so beautifully said - thank you so much!

I really try to live by that myself because we all have those days and those moments, but all those challenges make you stronger and tougher and builds character - and gives you better stories! It just sometimes takes a minute to see it that way.

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You can see English and the cast of Mean Girls in Ottawa next week, from October 18th to 23rd. Click here for more information or to buy tickets.

* Note this interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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