Rachel McAdams
McAdams made her Hollywood film debut in the comedy The Hot Chick in 2002. She rose to fame in 2004 with her portrayal of Regina George in the comedy Mean Girls and Allie Calhoun in the romantic drama The Notebook. In 2005, she starred in the romantic comedy Wedding Crashers, the psychological thriller Red Eye, and the comedy-drama The Family Stone.
She was hailed by the media as Hollywood's new "it girl", and received a nomination for the BAFTA Rising Star Award.
After a hiatus, McAdams gained further prominence starring in the films The Time Traveler's Wife (2009), Sherlock Holmes (2009), Morning Glory (2010), Midnight in Paris (2011), The Vow (2012), and About Time (2013). For her portrayal of journalist Sacha Pfeiffer in the drama Spotlight (2015), she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
This was followed by roles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Doctor Strange (2016) and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), the romantic drama Disobedience (2017), the comedies Game Night (2018) and Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020), the comedy-drama Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. (2023), and the horror-thriller Send Help (2026).
On television, she starred in the second season of the HBO anthology crime drama series True Detective (2015), earning a Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Miniseries or Movie nomination. She made her Broadway debut playing a struggling single mother in Amy Herzog's play Mary Jane (2024) for which she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play.
Early life and education
Rachel Anne McAdams was born on November 17, 1978, in London, Ontario, to nurse Sandra (nรฉe Gale) and truck driver Lance McAdams. She grew up in St. Thomas in a Protestant household. The eldest of three children, she has a younger sister who is a make-up artist and a younger brother who is a personal trainer.
McAdams is of Scottish, English, Irish and Welsh descent. Her maternal fifth great-grandfather, James Gray, fought as a Loyalist Ranger during the American Revolution and fled to Upper Canada after the Battles of Saratoga.
McAdams began figure skating when she was four, but turned down an opportunity to move to Toronto when she was nine for pair skating training. She skated competitively until she was 18, winning regional awards. She has said that skating prepared her for acting by teaching her to be "in tune" with her body.
McAdams attended Myrtle Street Public School and Central Elgin Collegiate Institute. She said that she did not enjoy academic work and often pretended to be sick to avoid going to school. Nonetheless, she was active in student life. In addition to playing sports (including volleyball, badminton, and soccer), she was on the student council, participated in the Crime Stoppers program, and was a member of the Peer Helping Team. She worked at a McDonald's restaurant during summer holidays for three years.
She developed an interest in performing when she was seven, and while her parents did not discourage her, they did not "go out and find me an agent." She attended Disney and William Shakespeare summer camps as a child. From age 12, she participated in Original Kids Theatre Company, London productions, and in her late teens directed children's theatre productions.
She was also involved in school stage productions, and won a performance award at the Sears Ontario Drama Festival. She was inspired by two of her teachers, who taught her English and drama, respectively, in grades 11 and 12. She intended to take cultural studies at the University of Western Ontario before being persuaded by her drama teacher that a professional acting career was a viable option.
She enrolled in York University's four-year theatre program and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts honours degree in 2001. While there, she worked with the Toronto-based Necessary Angel Theatre Company.
Career
2001โ2003: Early work
In 2001, McAdams made her television debut in the MTV pilot Shotgun Love Dolls as Beth Swanson, which was filmed during March break at York University. She also made her Canadian film debut that year in the comedy My Name Is Tanino. The Italian-Canadian co-production was filmed in Sicily when McAdams was 22 years old, and it marked her first time on an airplane. McAdams later earned a Genie Award nomination in Canada for her role in the drama Perfect Pie.
In 2002, she made her Hollywood film debut with Rob Schneider and Anna Faris in the comedy The Hot Chick, which McAdams has described as a "huge milestone" in her career. She played a catty high school student who swaps bodies with Schneider's character, a small-time criminal. Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times felt she "emerges as a young actress of much promise".
Afterwards, McAdams returned to Canada to star as Kate McNab in Slings and Arrows, a comedy mini-series about backstage theatre life at the fictional New Burbage Shakespearean Festival. She was written out of the second season of the program following her success in the United States. She received two Gemini Award nominations for her work on the program, winning one.
2004โ2005: Breakthrough
McAdams's break-out role came in 2004, when she starred in the comedy film Mean Girls opposite Lindsay Lohan, Lacey Chabert, and Amanda Seyfried, based on Rosalind Wiseman's book Queen Bees and Wannabes. McAdams was 24 years old when she was cast as the mean high school queen bee Regina George, and she modelled her character on Alec Baldwin's performance in the drama Glengarry Glen Ross (1992).
Mike Clark of USA Today praised her "comic flair" while Jenny McCartney of The Daily Telegraph found her "delightfully hateful." Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle felt that "McAdams brings glamour and magnetism to Regina, but also the right hint of comic distance." The film grossed $129 million worldwide and earned McAdams two MTV Movie Awards. Mean Girls later reached No. 12 in an Entertainment Weekly list of the Greatest Ever High School Movies.
Tina Fey, who coโstarred in the film and wrote the screenplay, has credited McAdams with teaching her how to act in front of a camera rather than an audience: "She's a film actor. She's not pushing. And so I kind of learned that lesson from watching her."
Later in 2004, McAdams starred opposite fellow Canadian Ryan Gosling in the romantic drama The Notebook, based on Nicholas Sparks' novel of the same name. She played Allie Hamilton, a wealthy Southern belle who has a forbidden love affair with Gosling's poor labourer, Noah Calhoun. McAdams spent time in Charleston, South Carolina, prior to filming to familiarize herself with the Southern accent, and took ballet and etiquette classes.
Filming took place from late 2002 to early 2003. Although McAdams and Gosling became romantically involved in 2005, they had a combative relationship on set. "We inspired the worst in each other," Gosling has said. "It was a strange experience, making a love story and not getting along with your co-star in any way." At one point, Gosling asked the film's director Nick Cassavetes to "bring somebody else in for my off-camera shot" because he felt McAdams was being uncooperative.
Stephen Holden of The New York Times praised the "spontaneous and combustible" performances of the two leads while Roger Ebert was won over by the "beauty and clarity" of McAdams's performance. Michael Wilmington of the Chicago Tribune declared her "a real discovery" who "infuses young Allie with that radiant, breathlessly winning ingรฉnue grace and charm that breaks hearts".
The film grossed over $115 million worldwide. McAdams won an MTV Movie Award and four Teen Choice Awards. Entertainment Weekly has said that the movie contains the All-Time Best Movie Kiss while the Los Angeles Times has included a scene from the film in a list of the 50 Classic Movie Kisses. The Notebook has appeared on many Most Romantic Movies lists. "I'm so grateful to have a film that people respond to in that way", McAdams told Elle in 2011. "It was a big deal."
In 2005, McAdams starred with Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn, and Bradley Cooper in the romantic comedy Wedding Crashers. McAdams played a daughter of an influential politician, who is caught in a love triangle with Wilson and Cooper's characters. McAdams listened repeatedly to Fleetwood Mac's 1975 song "Landslide" to prepare for emotional scenes, and Wilson has said the song made her cry immediately: "It was like turning on a faucet." She trained for a sailing certification for a boating sequence because her character was said to be an accomplished sailor.
Manohla Dargis of The New York Times felt McAdams "makes the most of her underdeveloped character" and "grows more appealing with every new role". Brian Lowry of Variety found her "a beguiling presence" who "actually creates a real character โ a rarity for females in one of these lad-mag escapades". From a production budget of $40 million, the film grossed over $285 million worldwide.
Afterwards, McAdams starred opposite Cillian Murphy in Wes Craven's psychological thriller Red Eye, where she played a young hotel manager who is held captive by Murphy's character while aboard a red-eye flight. Craven has said McAdams was the only actress he considered for the part. She was drawn to the relatable qualities of her character: "She was not some sweaty, tank-top-wearing, Uzi-carrying super woman".
Robert Koehler of Variety found her "increasingly impressive" while Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times asserted that "she brings more presence and credibility to her role than is really expected; she acts without betraying the slightest awareness that she's inside a genre. Her performance qualifies her for heavy-duty roles." Upon release, the film, which was made on a budget of $26 million, earned over $95 million at the worldwide box office.
In late 2005, McAdams starred with Sarah Jessica Parker and Diane Keaton in the seasonal family comedy-drama The Family Stone, which gave McAdams an opportunity to play a dishevelled and sardonic sister, rather than the usual "obvious" girlfriend or wife roles. She was eager to work with Keaton and remarked, "It's never about line counts for me.
It's about the people I get to work with." Justin Chang of Variety noted that "a deglammed but still radiant McAdams proves once again that she's the real deal, delivering a deliciously feisty performance". Manohla Dargis of The New York Times felt that her "engaging screen presence holds your attention and sympathy despite the handicap presented by her character's personality." The film was a commercial success: it cost $18 million to make and grossed over $92 million worldwide.
2006โ2010: Career hiatus and return
At this point in her career, McAdams was hailed as "the next Julia Roberts" and the new "Hollywood it girl". Vanity Fair invited McAdams, along with actresses Scarlett Johansson and Keira Knightley, to appear on its March 2006 cover, the annual Hollywood issue. Upon arrival on the photo set, McAdams discovered it was a nude session, declined and left.
She later parted ways with her publicist at the time, who had not informed her in advance. Knightley later recounted, "Quite early on Rachel just said, 'No, I'm not into that.' She's a lovely girl, and I really respect her for doing that." When asked about the incident in 2008, McAdams had "no regrets". McAdams took a break from her film career from 2006 to 2007. "There were a lot of cooks in the kitchen, a lot of voices around me, and I wanted to step away so I could hear my own voice again", McAdams said in 2013. "Truthfully, I never really wanted to be a big movie star.
I never even wanted to work outside of Canada, or outside of the theatre." During that period, McAdams turned down roles in the films The Devil Wears Prada (2006), Casino Royale (2006), Mission: Impossible III (2006), Iron Man (2008), and Get Smart (2008). In February 2006, she made a one-off stage appearance in The Vagina Monologues at St.
Lawrence Centre for the Arts in Toronto to raise funds for V-Day. That same year, McAdams received a Rising Star Award nomination from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and hosted the Academy Awards for Technical Achievement.
McAdams returned to her film career in 2008. She starred with Pierce Brosnan and Chris Cooper in the 1940s film noir Married Life where she played Kay Nesbitt, a young widow who wins the affections of Brosnan and Cooper's older characters. In preparation for the role, McAdams studied old films, particularly those of Kim Novak.
She has said the film shoot re-energized and re-inspired her and made her eager to continue working more often again. Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly found McAdams "a particularly delightful vision after her two-year intermission". Todd McCarthy of Variety criticized her break from the big screen but felt that, despite a performance of "tender feeling", "her natural vivaciousness and spontaneity are straitjacketed" by the film noir format.
The film had a limited release and was a box-office failure. It grossed just over $2 million worldwide, failing to recoup its production budget of $12 million.
Afterwards, McAdams starred with Tim Robbins and Michael Peรฑa in the road trip comedy-drama The Lucky Ones, a story about three Iraq War soldiers on a brief road trip back in the United States. She trained at a real boot camp, at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, prior to filming. In 2011, McAdams said that Colee Dunn was "probably one of my favorite characters I've ever played".
The film also had a limited release and Laura Kern of The New York Times found her "luminous as always" while Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times hailed the performance as "her coming of age as an actress". "Previously she has been seen mostly as a hot chick or an idealized sweetheart", he wrote. "Here she is feisty, vulnerable, plucky, warm, funny ...
Watch the poignancy of the scene when she meets her boyfriend's family." Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly found her "feisty, gorgeous, and as mercurial as a mood ring". The Lucky Ones is the least commercially successful film of McAdams's career as of 2012, having grossed just $266,967 worldwide.
In 2009, McAdams starred with Russell Crowe, Helen Mirren and Ben Affleck in the political thriller State of Play, based on the BBC drama television series of the same name. McAdams played Della Frye, an online reporter who investigates a possible conspiracy with Crowe's character, a veteran print journalist. McAdams visited The Washington Post's offices and met with politicians on Capitol Hill for her research.
Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly felt she was "perfectly cast as an ambitious wonkette" while Sukhdev Sandhu of The Daily Telegraph noted that "McAdams, with her lively eyes and large, expressive forehead, holds her own against Crowe. Mercifully, she avoids any temptation to play girly and demure to his grizzled alpha male." The film grossed over $87 million worldwide.
Also in 2009, McAdams starred opposite Eric Bana in the science fiction romantic drama The Time Traveler's Wife, based on Audrey Niffenegger's best-selling novel of the same name. McAdams fell "madly in love" with the novel, but was initially slightly hesitant to accept the role because she felt Clare Abshire, the long-suffering wife, was a "character that people have already cast in their heads".
Peter Travers of Rolling Stone said, "I'd watch the vibrant Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana in anything, but The Time Traveler's Wife is pushing it." Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times found her "luminous [yet], sadly, her facility as an actress is mostly wasted." Writing in The Chicago Tribune, Michael Phillips, in an otherwise tepid review, said of her performance: "Every scene she's in, even the silly ones, becomes betterโtruer, often against long oddsโbecause she's in it.
Her work feels emotionally spontaneous yet technically precise. She has an unusually easy touch with both comedy and drama, and she never holds a melodramatic moment hostage." The film was a commercial success, earning over $101 million worldwide.
In late 2009, McAdams starred in the mystery/action-adventure film Sherlock Holmes with Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law. She played Irene Adler, an antagonist and love interest of Downey's title character Sherlock Holmes, and welcomed the opportunity to play a character who is "her own boss and a real free spirit".
Todd McCarthy of Variety felt her character was "not very well integrated into the rest of the story, a shortcoming the normally resourceful McAdams is unable to do much about". A. O. Scott of The New York Times stated, "Ms. McAdams is a perfectly charming actress and performs gamely as the third wheel of this action-bromance tricycle.
But Irene feels in this movie more like a somewhat cynical commercial contrivance. She offers a little something for the ladies and also something for the lads, who, much as they may dig fights and explosions and guns and chases, also like girls." The film was a major commercial success, earning over $524 million at the worldwide box office.
In 2010, McAdams starred with her The Family Stone co-star Diane Keaton and Harrison Ford in the comedy Morning Glory. She played a television producer attempting to improve the poor ratings of a morning television program. The film was billed as a starring vehicle for McAdams. She initially felt she was unsuited to the role saying, "I'm not funny.
So I said, 'if you need me to be funny, you might want to look somewhere else'". The film's director Roger Michell had a number of dinners with McAdams and persuaded her to join the cast. Since working with Keaton, McAdams has described her as a mentor figure. Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times said McAdams "gives the kind of performance we go to the movies for" while Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times felt she played "as lovable a lead as anyone since Amy Adams in Junebug" in an otherwise "routine" movie. Variety's Andrew Barker was impressed by her gift for physical comedy.
While Manohla Dargis of The New York Times felt she "plays her role exceptionally well" and is "effortlessly likable", it called on Hollywood to give her parts "worthy" of her talent. "Ms. McAdams has to rely on her dimples to get by. She does, but she could do better." The film was a modest commercial success, grossing $58 million worldwide from a production budget of $40 million. McAdams later expressed her disappointment that the film failed to find a larger audience.
๐ Source: Wikipedia
