Famous for her work on Mean Girls and Party of Five, actress Lacey Chabert isn’t as young as she once was.

She looked like she would keep shining at the height of her Mean Girls popularity, but co-star Rachel McAdams went on to become the movie’s Hollywood favourite, starring in films such as Spotlight, Wedding Crashers, and The Notebook.

Even Amanda Seyfried and Lindsay Lohan, who starred in Mean Girls together, managed to maintain their prominence; Seyfried was cast in highly regarded roles, while Lohan was just Lindsay Lohan.

What, though, has Lacey Chabert been up to in the intervening years? Actually, she’s discovered her calling elsewhere.

This is how Lacey Chabert has managed to succeed over the years.

A change in priority
In September 2016, Lacey Chabert gave birth to her first child, a girl called Julia Mimi Bella.

E! News reports that the actress entered full nesting mode in anticipation of her daughter’s arrival, organising the nursery and even having a pre-interview conversation with her furry companion, a chihuahua named Kitty.

Even though Chabert was clearly thrilled to have daughter Julia, it’s possible that becoming a parent caused her priorities to change.

This was made clear when Chabert spoke about the difficulties of juggling life as a working mother in the entertainment industry and her new professional path during the press tour for her 16th—yes, you read that right—Hallmark film in the autumn and winter of 2018.

In November 2018, Chabert stated to the Clarion Ledger, “If you had told me two years ago that this is what my career would look like today, I think I would’ve been surprised, but it’s such a great fit for who I am and where I am in my life right now.”

She will always be associated with Gretchen Wieners
The catchphrase “that’s so fetch” was first used by Chabert, who played the legendary Gretchen Wieners in Mean Girls. Maybe she’s still viewed by Hollywood as that stupid adolescent whose dad invented Toaster Strudel?

After all, it’s really simple to get typecast in Hollywood — just take a look at the perpetually quirky Helena Bonham Carter or the beloved romantic actress Jennifer Aniston.

In Chabert’s instance, a single film still encompasses her entire career identity, at least in terms of her more mainstream work. Chabert stated to Entertainment Weekly in 2014, a decade after the Mean Girls premiere, that “People tweet me every day hundreds of times, if not thousands of times [with] lines from the movie.”

To be fair, though, she’s not bothered by the association. Indeed, Chabert stated to Star in December 2018 that she “would love to be a part of it” if a sequel were ever developed. Make Tina Fey a call right now!

Not only that, but she also starred in each of those shows, along with an astounding seven more leading parts in Hallmark films that she isn’t producing. Did Hollywood bundle her up and send her to Hallmark?

On her own terms, Lacey Chabert is making it work
Despite spending years operating beneath the general public’s notice, Chabert appears to have blazed a very successful path for herself.

She’s been cast in several vocal roles, including Scooby Doo and The Wild Thornberrys! Menace of Mecha Mutt. Merely pursuing that path might potentially lead her back to the A-List, akin to Anna Kendrick in Trolls or Reese Witherspoon in Sing, or simply maintain her relevance by gaining a new following of younger people.

Chabert, though, might be starting to follow Jessica Alba’s lead and become a mompreneur. Chabert continuously promoted Tyson Meal Kits, which she endorses, while on her press tour in late 2018.

Examples of these are here and here. She also said to Good Housekeeping that the brand and Hallmark’s current style of photography—hint: fast—go hand in hand.

Speaking of Pride, Prejudice, and Mistletoe, which was released in 2018, Chabert said Good Housekeeping, “This movie — and most Hallmark movies, in fact — was shot in 15 days.”

She continued, saying, “Working and being a very hands-on mom is a challenge but I’m thankful to work at a place that makes it easier for me,” she added, before plugging — you guessed it — Tyson Meal Kits again, which she described as “quicker and stress free.”

Well, somebody is aware of where her bread is buttered these days, and it’s not the huge studio system in Hollywood.

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