Tina Fey Gets Lean and Mean

Tina Fey is our favorite TV anchorwoman. OK, we know she's on Saturday Night Live and isn't an honest-to-goodness anchor, but how many real news gals are as bright, funny and easy on the eyes as Fey? The "Weekend Update" funny girl also proved teen comedies don't have to be dumb by writing and starring in Mean Girls, which arrives on DVD this week. Here, Fey takes a break from her SNL preseason prep work for some Girls talk.

TV Guide Online: Were you a mean girl?
Tina Fey: I was a little bit of a mean girl. I was kind of a mean nerd. I was mean to the girls I was jealous of — girls that were better looking or going out with boys that I liked. I could be really mean behind their backs, and just talk endlessly about them, which is what we call in the movie "word vomit."

TVGO: How was working with Lindsay Lohan?
Fey: She's a really good actress and a lovely young woman. She was perfect for the part because she is likable and has the skills to play the meaner side of the role. We were lucky; we got her at the right time — before she was [making] $7 million [a movie].

TVGO: Don't you have any good dirt on her? Did you ever see her drunk?
Fey: Never sloppy.... [Laughs] Honestly, I feel for all these young kids that get scrutinized in Star or US Weekly. I can't imagine someone examining my every life choice when I was 17. Well, that would have been very boring and made for really bad pictures.

TVGO: What kind of feedback did you get from teens about the movie?
Fey: I have several bodyguards that don't let kids near me.

TVGO: Seriously.
Fey: Mostly, young girls who saw the film said, "I think Jonathan Bennett is so cute." And women my age said it gave them uncomfortable flashbacks. They also thought Jonathan Bennett was cute.

TVGO: Have things changed much from when you were in high school?
Fey: I'd say information moves at a much faster pace than when I was in school. Because of e-mail, cell phones and text messaging, a bad rumor spreads five times as fast.

TVGO: You put a lot of your SNL buddies in the film.
Fey: We all know each other so well that I just wrote roles especially for each of them. Like Tim Meadows always cracks me up when he is playing a dignified guy who is put upon — he's so dry.

TVGO: Are you excited about the new season of SNL or dreading it?
Fey: It feels like going back to school, and I always loved school, so I enjoy this part of the year. I got my new pencils, a New Kids on the Block Trapper Keeper, and now I'm ready to start work!