Rachel McAdams

Rachel Anne McAdams (born November 17, 1978) is a Canadian actress. After graduating from York University in 2001 with a BFA in theatre, she worked in Canadian television and film productions, such as the drama film Perfect Pie (2002), for which she received a Genie Award nomination, the comedy film My Name Is Tanino (2002), and the comedy series Slings & Arrows (2003–2005), for which she won a Gemini Award.

In 2002, she made her Hollywood film debut in the comedy The Hot Chick. She rose to fame in 2004 with the comedy Mean Girls and 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 BAFTA Award nomination for Best Rising Star.

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), and the comedy-drama Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. (2023).

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 in the Amy Herzog play Mary Jane (2024) for which she was nominated for a Tony Award.

Rachel Anne McAdams was born on November 17, 1978, in London, Ontario, Canada, to nurse Sandra (née 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.

In 2001, McAdams made her television debut in the MTV pilot Shotgun Love Dolls as Beth Swanson, which was filmed during March break from 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.

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 co‑starred 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 ingénue 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 – 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.