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Rachel Anne McAdams (born November 17, 1976) is a BAFTA Award-nominated Canadian actress. She is known for her roles in the Hollywood films Mean Girls, The Notebook, Wedding Crashers and Red Eye. Canadian actress Rachel McAdams first came to the attention of U.S. audiences playing a pair of uber-bitchy teen queens in “The Hot Chick” (2004) and “Mean Girls” (2004). Audiences were understandably surprised by her effectively heartwarming performances in the sentimental romance “The Notebook” (2004) and as a likeable girl-next-door in the mega comedy smash “Wedding Crashers” (2005). The sometimes blonde, sometimes brunette, sometimes pink-haired actress enjoyed roles just as unpredictable as her appearance, delivering all of them with the same sparkling panache as her flair for personal style. In 2008, she was slated to throw moviegoers for a loop yet again with starring roles in the retro thriller “Married Life” and an adaptation of the bestselling novel “The Traveler’s Wife.” McAdams was born in London, Ontario and grew up in nearby St. Thomas. Her father, Lance, is a truck driver, and her mother, Sandra, is a nurse. She has a younger brother, Daniel, and a younger sister, Kayleen. She took up competitive figure skating at the age of four and acting at age thirteen at a summer theatre camp in St. Thomas, Ontario named Original Kids. When the company extended to a year-round company (and eventually relocated to London, Ontario), she was invited to continue with them. At 10 years old, she also became involved with the Original Kids Theatre Company in London, appearing in productions of Shakespeare and other classics. She won her first acting award in 1995 when a high school play “I Live In A Little Town” was featured in the Ontario Showcase of the Sears Drama Festival. McAdams had not planned to pursue acting beyond her high school graduation in 1997, but thanks to the encouragement of a teacher, she entered the Drama program at York University in Toronto. She performed in numerous student films and stage productions and began working with Toronto’s renowned Necessary Angels Theater Company, before graduating She attended the Myrtle Street Public School. and the publicly-funded secondary school Central Elgin Collegiate Institute in St. Thomas from grade nine to OAC and starred in the Award-winning student production I Live in a Little Town. Later she graduated from York University in Toronto with Honours and a BFA degree in Theatre. During her fourth year at York, she played a child in The Piper – a workshop led by a creative team from Toronto's Necessary Angel Theatre Company. She also attended Original Kids Theatre Company in London, Ontario, as well as David Rotenberg's on-camera acting class in Toronto with fellow actors Scott Speedman, Kenneth Mitchell, Polly Shannon and David Sutcliffe.. McAdams remained in Toronto after college, with the town’s burgeoning production industry proving a great place to start making inroads to TV and film. She made her first onscreen performance in “The Famous Jett Jackson” (Disney, 1998-2002) as Hannah, the bulimic older sister of one of the main characters. She went on to star in several movies-of-the-week, before making her feature debut with a co-starring role in “My Name is Tanino” (2001), a comedy helmed by Italian director Paolo Virzi, about a young, carefree Italian (Corrado Fortuna) who chases an American tourist (McAdams) to America after a romantic liaison in his hometown. A breakout role in the Canadian feature “Perfect Pie” (2002) hinted that the actress had much bigger Hollywood potential. Her performance as the best friend of a small town girl who makes it big won her a nomination for a Genie Award, Canada’s equivalent to the Oscar. Rachel McAdams had the titular role in the film The Hot Chick, alongside Rob Schneider, but her career really took off when she starred as Regina George, the "queen-bee" in 2004's Mean Girls. McAdams was told to partly model the character of Regina George after Alec Baldwin's performance in Glengarry Glen Ross (1992). McAdams had previously appeared in the Canadian television series Slings and Arrows, alongside Paul Gross. She played a main role in the first season, but due to her rising stardom was written out of the second season, appearing in only the first episode. She followed Mean Girls with the film adaptation of Nicholas Sparks' novel The Notebook, alongside Ryan Gosling, with whom she would later begin an off-screen romance. They broke up in 2007. Many actors who tried to transfer international success to the American screen suffered years of struggle, but McAdams had a unique, genuine charisma that landed her a big role as soon as she ventured to Hollywood. In 2002, she was cast in a starring role in “The Hot Chick” (2002), a teen comedy about a mean-spirited high school girl – popular captain of the cheerleading squad and dating the quarterback – who gets a heavy comeuppance when she wakes up to find herself trapped in the body of a 30-something man (Rob Schneider). In 2005, she played Owen Wilson's love interest in Wedding Crashers and then starred in the suspense thriller Red Eye as Lisa Reisert. She played a young woman held captive aboard a red-eye flight by criminal-for-hire and assassin Jackson Rippner (Cillian Murphy). McAdams tried another more successful turn as a believable mean-spirited high schooler in “Mean Girls” (2004), a surprisingly well-written (by Tina Fey) critical and box office hit starring Lindsay Lohan. This time, McAdams delved deep into her character by exploring the machine-like quality of wanting to hurt people just for the fun of it. At the same time, she also brought a surprising level of sympathy to her spoiled princess character. Following her big splash in U.S. with “Mean Girls,” McAdams returned to Canadian TV, playing a young starstruck actress in “Slings and Arrows” (2003-05), a comedy about a small town theater company. Her most recent role was in the comedy The Family Stone where she starred in an ensemble cast alongside Diane Keaton, Craig T. Nelson, Sarah Jessica Parker, Dermot Mulroney, Luke Wilson, Brian J. White and Claire Danes. McAdams auditioned for the role of "Sue Storm" in Fantastic Four, and she almost got it, but lost out to Jessica Alba. Rachel's career slowed down in 2006. She was originally signed on as the female lead in The Last Kiss but had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts, and the role was given to Jacinda Barrett. She decided to take a year off from acting, to spend time with friends and family. McAdams then signed on to star in the drama Married Life across Pierce Brosnan and Patricia Clarkson. She turned down the role of bond girl "Vesper Lynd" in the James Bond film Casino Royale. McAdams was also in-talks to star in Iron Man and The Dark Knight, but she declined both roles. She stated in an interview sometime in May 2006 that she did not want to star in a big-budget action film because she wanted to pursue other projects. Despite having appeared nude or topless in a few of her movie scenes, McAdams opted out of a cover shoot for Vanity Fair in which she was to appear alongside two other young Hollywood actresses, Scarlett Johansson and Keira Knightley upon finding out it was to be nude. Tom Ford, artistic director for the cover, instead appeared with them. When McAdams appeared on set and discovered it was nude, she politely declined, according to Knightley. She is currently set to star as a reporter in State of Play. Filming was originally scheduled to start in November, but after the film lost its two leading actors, Brad Pitt and Edward Norton, the movie has been delayed and will start in later January. McAdams received popular acclaim for both roles and was honored for her work, most recently a record number of five nominations and three wins at the MTV Movie Awards in 2005. McAdams beat competition including Beyoncé Knowles, Jessica Alba, and Jessica Simpson. She won the MTV award for 'Best Kiss' along with Ryan Gosling, in The Notebook. McAdams was nominated for a Genie Award for her role in Perfect Pie. She was also nominated for the BAFTA's Orange Rising Star award which acknowledges the new talents in the acting industry. The award went to James McAvoy. She hosted the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences's 2006 Scientific and Technical Awards. McAdams received a Civic Award for her contribution to culture from the city of St. Thomas in 2006. |
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