Dara Renee knew how lucky she was, being cast in the Disney Channel musical version of “Freaky Friday,” and she was ready.

Except for maybe one thing. She had to play mean, and that just wasn’t her.

“It was for the mean girl,” said the 17-year-old former Baltimore resident on the phone from Los Angeles, where she’s preparing to start her senior year in high school this month, “and I was like, ‘I’ve never once been the mean girl.’ ”

Happily, she took the part of Savannah anyway, and loved the experience. The mean part — having to play the main characters’ nemesis — never came easily, though.

“I felt so bad,” Renee (center in photo) said. “Every time I would have to do a mean scene … I would apologize every time. And they were, like, ‘You don’t have to apologize after every take.’ ”

“Freaky Friday” premiered on the Disney Channel Friday, starring Heidi Blickenstaff and Cozi Zuehlsdorff.

— Chris Kaltenbach