Rachel McAdams is a Canadian actress. After graduating from a four-year theatre program at York University in 2001, she worked in Canadian television and film productions such as the drama Perfect Pie (2002), for which she received a Genie Award nomination, the comedy My Name Is Tanino (2002), and the comedy Slings and Arrows, for which she won a Gemini Award. In 2002, she made her Hollywood film debut in the comedy The Hot Chick. McAdams rose to fame in 2004 with her roles in 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 family 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 two-year break from acting, McAdams starred in two limited-release films in 2008; she portrayed an ambitious politician in the political thriller State of Play and a starry-eyed lover in the romantic drama The Time Traveler’s Wife. In 2010, McAdams appeared in her first-star vehicle, the comedy Morning Glory. In 2015, her highest-profile roles were in the second season of the HBO crime drama True Detective, and as journalist Sacha Pfeiffer in the drama Spotlight. For her performance in Spotlight, she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Table of Contents:
1. Early Life and Education
2. Career
3. Filmography
4. Awards and Nominations
5. Personal Life
6. Rachel McAdams Quotes
- Early Life and Education
Rachel McAdams was born in London, Ontario, the daughter of Sandra Kay (née Gale), a nurse, and Lance Frederick McAdams, a truck driver and furniture mover. She has a younger sister, Kayleen, a celebrity make-up artist. McAdams is of English, Irish, Scottish, and Welsh descent and she holds Canadian citizenship. She grew up in a Protestant household. When she was four years old, she began figure skating but turned down an opportunity to move to Toronto when she was nine years old for pair skating training.
McAdams was educated at Myrtle Street Public School, and later Central Elgin Collegiate Institute. She did not enjoy academic work and often would pretend to be sick to avoid going to school. Nevertheless, she was active in student life, serving on the student council, participating in the Cabaret Committee, and completing a 75-hour community service placement as part of the school’s work experience program. After graduating from high school, she attended York University in Toronto, where she studied English and drama. Her first acting role came in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical Starlight Express in 1999, playing the part of Joujou. She quit after one semester to pursue her acting career.
- Career
McAdams began her acting career after graduating from York University in 2001 with minor roles in Canadian television and film productions. Her first film role was in the 2002 comedy The Hot Chick. She subsequently had roles in the 2002 films Perfect Pie and My Name Is Tanino. In 2004, she starred in the romantic drama The Notebook, which became a sleeper hit and garnered her an MTV Movie Award for Breakthrough Female Performance, as well as a Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actress – Drama. The same year, she had a leading role in the comedy Mean Girls.
McAdams rose to prominence in 2005, with her roles in the romantic comedy Wedding Crashers and the psychological thriller Red Eye. She subsequently starred in the 2006 comedy The Family Stone, the 2007 romantic comedy Married Life, the 2008 drama The Lucky Ones, the 2009 romance The Time Traveler’s Wife, and the 2010 comedy Morning Glory. In 2011, she had a supporting role in the romantic comedy Midnight in Paris.
McAdams took a two-year break from acting, returning in 2013 with roles in the independent film Passion, the Derek Cianfrance-directed drama The Place Beyond the Pines, and the Cameron Crowe-written romantic comedy Aloha. In 2015, her highest-profile roles were in the second season of the HBO crime drama True Detective, and as journalist Sacha Pfeiffer in the drama Spotlight. For her performance in Spotlight, she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
In 2016, McAdams starred in the action comedy-drama Mister Popper’s Penguins and the romantic drama Certain Women. She is set to star in the upcoming film Game Night, and will also appear in the untitled Darren Aronofsky film and the comedy Where’d You Go, Bernadette.
- Filmography
- The Hot Chick (2002)
- Perfect Pie (2002)
- My Name Is Tanino (2002)
- The Notebook (2004)
- Mean Girls (2004)
- Wedding Crashers (2005)
- Red Eye (2005)
- The Family Stone (2005)
- Married Life (2007)
- The Lucky Ones (2008)
- The Time Traveler’s Wife (2009)
- Morning Glory (2010)
- Midnight in Paris (2011)
- Passion (2013)
- The Place Beyond the Pines (2013)
- Aloha (2015)
- True Detective (2015)
- Spotlight (2015)
- Mister Popper’s Penguins (2016)
- Certain Women (2016)
- Game Night (2018)
- Where’d You Go, Bernadette (2018)
- The Untitled Darren Aronofsky Project (2018)
- Awards and Nominations
- Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress (Nominated)
- BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Nominated)
- Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture (Nominated)
- Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role (Nominated)
- Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture (Nominated)
- Critics’ Choice Movie Award for Best Supporting Actress (Nominated)
- Personal Life
McAdams has said that she is a fan of Canadian Football and is a supporter of the Toronto Argonauts. In June 2010, she served as the honorary captain of the team at the 100th Grey Cup in Toronto.
In February 2005, McAdams began dating her Wedding Crashers co-star Ryan Gosling. The couple moved to New York City in September 2005. They broke up in November 2008 but reunited in mid-2009. In August 2010, they announced they had split up again.
On April 28, 2009, McAdams served as a co-host of Canada’s Walk of Fame induction ceremony, where she inducted her father into Canada’s Walk of Fame. In 2015, she was presented with the Elle Women in Hollywood Awards Icon Award.
Rachel McAdams Quotes
“I’m not an amazing cook. But I can follow a recipe!” — Rachel McAdams
“I definitely believe that you are drawn to certain things for inexplicable reasons but in a very powerful way. I don’t know what it is exactly, but I know that things happen kind of miraculously sometimes, and so I’m willing to believe that there’s something pretty magical out there.” — Rachel McAdams
“You really don’t have a life when you’re working. I always think “oh, I’m gonna see everybody on my days off. I’m gonna read so many books and see so many films” and then three months go by…” — Rachel McAdams
“I really like having a life outside work. I sometimes wish I did more career stuff and was in that Hollywood scene a bit more. But Toronto’s my home.” — Rachel McAdams
“If I hurt someone, if I were to accidentally poke someone’s eye out, I would laugh. And then I’d say, ‘I’m sorry, I really do feel bad,’ but then I’m on the floor rolling.” — Rachel McAdams
“You know, I have some issues. But I just love to play different characters all the time, and I try not to repeat myself too much.” — Rachel McAdams
“I think love is the through line and it’s universal and it doesn’t matter what period of time, time or place, or people, that’s something we all connect to. That’s the thin thread that I think keeps it all together.” — Rachel McAdams
“I love books where you can’t get out of bed. You want to consume them in one sitting, devour them. Those are my favorites, where you’ve almost abandoned your life for them. That doesn’t happen every time, but those are the best.” — Rachel McAdams
“I’ve had heartbreaking auditions where they don’t even look at you. You’re out before you’re in.” — Rachel McAdams
“You know when you find a great dress, you’ve gotta hold on to it.” — Rachel McAdams
“I drink maple syrup. Then I’m hyper so I just run around like crazy and work it all off.” — Rachel McAdams
“I’m very silly as a person, but quality silliness on-screen has more of an art to it. Harrison Ford, whom I was in ‘Morning Glory’ with, has mastered that dry funny better than anyone.” — Rachel McAdams
“I’ve discovered as I’ve grown up that life is far more complicated than you think it is when you’re a kid. It isn’t just a straightforward fairytale.”
“I think one thing that kids who grow up on farms really have going for them is they have exposure to death and birth in a totally different way. I think it takes away a little bit of the mystery and a little bit of the fear, and I do wish I had that. And I wish I was able to grow my own food.” — Rachel McAdams
“I have a certain curiosity for life that drives me and propels me forward.” — Rachel McAdams
“During a movie, chemistry is so important, and yet they just assume actors can fake their way through it. That doesn’t always work.” — Rachel McAdams
“I confess I am a romantic. I love romance, and I think it’s really fun and delicious and some of my favorite films are love stories. I think that you just get a chance to fall in love with the characters so much and you get to explore their lives so deeply.” — Rachel McAdams
“I feel like I’m going backwards, actually, as I get older. I’m regressing. I feel more and more like a kid, which is kind of a fun feeling.” — Rachel McAdams
“The craziest thing I’ve ever done to get a guy’s attention? I admit I stalked someone. I showed up at a restaurant where I knew the guy worked, and we were actually good friends and had lost touch, and I pretended that I didn’t know he worked there.” — Rachel McAdams
“I want to work with great directors and try not to put too much pressure on myself and just read things for the story and recognize when I’m drawn to something for the right reasons and try to maintain some sanity.” — Rachel McAdams
“I use filming as an excuse to take classes. I got my certification in sailing for ‘Wedding Crashers,’ and now I can handle a 26-foot boat. I played a seamstress once, so I took sewing classes. I love dipping into these other lives.” — Rachel McAdams
“A friend of mine had this great theory about the Teletubbies, that it’s preparing us for being mindless. And getting us ready for living in an underground world. That’s why the scenery is so flat.” — Rachel McAdams
“I did do some Shakespeare on film, it’s really difficult. It’s really interesting because I was doing a series in Canada called ‘Slings and Arrows’ and it was about a company based around the Stratford Festival.” — Rachel McAdams
“I don’t know, I like to go on really different types of dates. Going someplace new or some new part of the city, something that’s not your average thing. Something where you just go have an adventure together.” — Rachel McAdams
“There’s no one who’s ever been significantly in my life for whom I don’t have a sort of tenderness because they helped to shape who I am.” — Rachel McAdams
“Running through airports with pounds of luggage – that’s a good workout.” — Rachel McAdams
“A kiss with anyone, on or off camera, can be intimidating. I’ve been kissing for nearly two decades now, and I’m always convinced I’m not doing it right. Chemistry is so important in a great kiss. You can act your way through anything, but it’s hard with a kiss.” — Rachel McAdams
“Would I rather be dental floss or a toothbrush? is that a question? Um, I would actually rather be floss, I think, if I was using me. Because I don’t really floss enough.” — Rachel McAdams
“I love auditioning. Since ‘The Notebook’ and ‘Wedding Crashers,’ I don’t have to audition anymore, and I miss it. You get to show your interpretation of the character. I get nervous when I don’t audition. What if they hate what I want to do?” — Rachel McAdams
“I’ve sort of heard that “it” girl thing, but not really. Hearing it from a few people doesn’t solidify it in my mind and I wouldn’t know how to solidify that title. It’s so elusive and what does it mean, I don’t know?” — Rachel McAdams
“New York is so full of the best-unemployed actors on the planet.” — Rachel McAdams
“I’ve been given lots of great advice, in my life. As an actor, just being as honest and as present as you can be.” — Rachel McAdams
“I’ve always liked dressing up. And I love a high heel – the higher the better. I just feel funny in flats.” — Rachel McAdams
“You have to be really open to your acting partners and believe in the story.” — Rachel McAdams
“I love those preliminary conversations about who a character is. You try on wigs, shoes, and clothes. It’s preferable when it’s not about looking pretty. It can get a little dull to just be cute. We talk about things like, maybe my character can’t afford these Christian Louboutins.” — Rachel McAdams
“Chemistry is so important in a great kiss. You can act your way through anything, but it’s hard with a kiss.” — Rachel McAdams
“I can be quite surprised by what makes me cry, but it’s usually spiritual things.” — Rachel McAdams
“I sort of always had an inkling towards some kind of an art form. I grew up in a very small town, and I just figure-skated. My dad played hockey and I was surrounded by sports, but it wasn’t quite doing it for me. I wasn’t totally fulfilled, and I did a lot of skating.” — Rachel McAdams
“My mother never put an emphasis on looks. She let us grow up on our own timeline. She never forced any beauty regimen into my world.” — Rachel McAdams
“I do have a side of me that would just love to be stuck in the woods and have to stick it out and be really resourceful.” — Rachel McAdams
“Often with film, I find that you’re just really getting to know a person. They’re just starting to sink in, and then you wrap the film.” — Rachel McAdams
“The physical part of comedy is as hard as a lot of action movies. It scares me, but in a way that I like.” — Rachel McAdams
“I always wish I could go back and see the people that I love as children.” — Rachel McAdams
“I personally think you can have a really rich and full life with no abs. Abs are for wimps.” — Rachel McAdams
“I didn’t get my first pilot that I screen-tested for, and I really thought it was the end of the world. But it’s fine, you know, you move on to something else.” — Rachel McAdams
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