Kait Mae

After Gossip Girl was rebooted for a couple of seasons, I started thinking about the shows and books from the 2000s that I’d love to see on my screen. And that led me to The Clique. While it had its moment on screen back in 2008, I believe it’s ripe for a fresh adaptation that captures both the drama and the humor of the books. From reimagining the characters for today’s audience to envisioning the perfect cast, I’m excited to share how I’d bring this series back in style.

What Is ‘The Clique’?

Lisi Harrison’s popular middle grade series, The Clique, follows the lives of four popular girls who somehow add a fifth into the mix. Massie, Alicia, Dylan, and Kristen are “The Pretty Committee” – and Claire is the newest girl in school.

The series watches as the girls navigate the social scene while struggling to balance school, family, love, and popularity. They face several ups and downs that test their friendships and loyalty to one another – all before getting to high school.

How I Would Adapt It

First and foremost, this wouldn’t work as anything but a live-action project – and I’m choosing television because of the extensive number of books. I’d combine two or three books into seasons, with each being 15 to 20 half-hour episodes.

With the summer specials, I would combine all five books into one season that switches between the girls’ storylines. As for Charmed and Dangerous, I think it would work amazingly as a prequel or pilot movie for the show.

Who Are My Clique Girls?

Let’s start off this casting with Massie Block, our queen bee. For her, I chose Maya Le Clark, who you may recognize from The Thundermans as Chloe. She hasn’t played a mean girl yet, so I think this would be a great opportunity for her to try new roles.

Moving on to Claire Lyons, I chose Megan Stott for this role. After seeing her in Little Fires Everywhere, I just knew she’d be perfect as Claire. And her newest role in Penelope just cemented her role in this adaptation.

As for the other Clique girls, let’s start with Alicia – I’m going with Madelyn Miranda. She doesn’t have a huge list of projects yet, but I saw her in Dora and the Lost City of Gold and 9-1-1: Lone Star – and she killed it in both roles.

Moving on to Dylan, I went more for an actress who looked like the character as displayed on the book covers because I didn’t know who I wanted at first. Then I found Sophia Powers – and she’s perfect for the role.

And rounding out Massie’s group of friends, we have Kristen. And for her, for some reason I couldn’t get Sugar Motta from Glee out of me head for her until I found Keyla Asanza in a fan-casting website for another post. And I think she fits the role very well.

Now, just because I can, I’m adding Layne and Todd because I think they’re important characters to the story, as well. For Layne, I’m choosing Zara Elaheh. I found her in several Teen Titans fan-casts as Starfire, but I think she looks perfect for Layne.

As for Claire’s younger brother, Todd, I had to find a younger actor that looks like he could pass as Megan’s little sibling – and I settled with Grant Feely. Personally, I recognized him from Obi-Wan Kenobi as young Luke, but you might know him from Five Nights at Freddy’s.

I also think it would be great to bring back the original cast of the movie as an Easter egg for those of us who watched it.