Mean Girls' Rajiv Surendra Says Kevin G Wouldn't Have Ended Up with Janis; He 'Secretly Wanted Aaron Samuels' (Exclusive)

There are many memorable characters in 2004's Mean Girls — from Lindsay Lohan's unsuspecting Cady Heron and Rachel McAdams' conniving Regina George to their ditzy and dimwitted followers Gretchen (Lacey Chabert) and Karen (Amanda Seyfried) — but fans can't overlook badass M.C. and mathlete Kevin Gnapoor, who was memorably played by Rajiv Surendra.

From his iconic rap during the Winter Talent Show and his crush on Janis Ian (Lizzy Caplan) to his one-liners ("Don't let the haters stop you from doing your thang"), Kevin brought the laughs to every scene he was in. And while reflecting on the film's legacy 20 years later, the actor says the reason Kevin still is such a fan-favorite to this day is because "he makes people happy." 

"I think as a teenager to have wanted to be in movies and for me to have been given one chance — like, I haven't been in any movies since — the fact that I was in one thing that has lasted 20 years, everytime someone stops me they smile, that is the most rewarding thing that I could have received from being part of this movie," Surendra, 35, tells PEOPLE while promoting the launch of Mean Girls x Ocean Spray® Zero Sugar Cranberry and Mixed Berry Juice drinks. The partnership is in honor of Mean Girls Day on Oct. 3, the noted date Aaron Samuels (Jonathan Bennett) asked Cady what day it was.

Speaking of Aaron, Surendra has an unexpected answer to what may have ever happened to Kevin and Janis, who ended the movie by sharing a dance together at the Spring Fling after he first flirted with her during the talent show.

Not only does he not think the two had any sort of future together, but the actor says, "I think Kevin secretly wanted Aaron Samuels, but he wasn't allowed to say. And today, he would be allowed to reveal his feelings to Aaron Samuels, and then Aaron Samuels was also secretly gay." 

The answer is a little meta, considering that both Surendra and Bennett (as well as their costar, Daniel Franzese, who played Damian Leigh) have since publicly come out as gay in the years following the movie's theatrical release on April 30, 2004.

In fact, when it comes to staying in touch with his costars, Surendra, who is based in New York City, has met up with both Franzese and Bennett whenever they're in town. "They reach out," he says, adding that "every time we're together that comes up. Like, we just make jokes about it. We're like, 'Oh, we're all gay.' "

He also notes, "I've seen Lindsay a time," adding that whenever any of the cast members are together, "it feels like a family." He says, "I think that it feels like a family because the movie has never been forgotten. It's like, over the years, it's gotten bigger and bigger and bigger and the public's response all these years has always been positive and warm."

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It's also the fans that Surendra jokes know more about the movie than anyone else. "All over the place, like for the last two decades, people quote the most obscure things," he notes, before explaining how clever it was for Ocean Spray to pick up on that for their new campaign. 

Cranberry juice, of course, played a pivotal role in Regina's attempt to do the South Beach Fat Flush. "It had a significant impact on the plot," Surendra says, referring to what played afterward with Cady and the Kälteen Bars. "I thought it was really smart that the team identified [that]." 

While "riffing off that," Surendra was recruited to reprise his role as Kevin for a spoof on the character's now-iconic rap performance. This time, the lyrics have been cleaned up in order to highlight the new drink's "fierce flavor."

When it comes to the accompanying video for the campaign, the actor reveals he's wearing the same prop jewelry he donned in the original film.

"When we were shooting the rap, the props guy had a whole box full of all this fake jewelry that they bought for me to actually try on," he says. "And then at the end of the scene, I was like, 'Can I keep this?' And because he had doubles in their original packaging, he was like, 'Yeah, just take.' "

That's not Surendra's only memory from filming that scene, which he reveals only took two takes to nail on camera despite the amount of effort that went into preparing for it. "Shockingly, after two takes we were done. I remember the director Mark [Waters], he was laughing and clapping. He was so enthusiastic about it," he recalls. 

Helping him get ready for that moment was none other than Tina Fey, who wrote the script and appeared on-screen as math teacher Ms. Norbury, and Amy Poehler, who costarred as Mrs. George. Looking back, he says, "The thing that stands out was how important it was to them. I really thought, in terms of the entire script, it was this little part, [something] kind of silly, just like a blip."  

Then, just days before they shot that moment, "they both pulled me aside," he recalls. "Amy gave me a video cassette — 'cause at the time they were still filming on video — and one of the producers in the hotel room had filmed Amy's version of the rap to, like, give me notes. So when I got that, when Amy gave me that videotape, I watched it. Then, a day later, Tina took me aside into a side room and started talking to me about the motivation behind it. I was like, 'Oh this is a big thing.' It made me a little nervous 'cause I didn't really view it as something significant."

"But what is really interesting was that they knew it was an important thing," Surendra continues, adding, "So to see the reaction from the public after the movie came out, it was like, 'Oh, they, they knew what they were doing. They knew that that rap was gonna be something significant that people were gonna love.' "