Rachel McAdams

Biography:

Rachel Anne McAdams was born on November 17, 1978, in London, Ontario, to Sandra, a nurse, and Lance McAdams, a truck driver. She was raised in St. Thomas in a Protestant household and is the oldest of three children. Her younger sister works as a makeup artist, while her younger brother is a personal trainer. McAdams has Scottish, English, Irish, and Welsh roots. One of her maternal ancestors, James Gray, served as a Loyalist Ranger during the American Revolution and settled in Upper Canada after the Battles of Saratoga.

McAdams began figure skating at the age of four and competed until she was 18, earning several regional awards. Although she declined a chance to move to Toronto for pair-skating training at age nine, she has said the sport taught her the physical awareness that later helped her in acting.

She attended Myrtle Street Public School and Central Elgin Collegiate Institute. Though she didn’t enjoy academics and sometimes pretended to be ill to skip school, she was active in extracurricular activities. She played several sports—including volleyball, badminton, and soccer—served on student council, volunteered with Crime Stoppers, and was part of the Peer Helping Team. During summer breaks, she spent three years working at McDonald’s.

McAdams became interested in performing around age seven. Her parents weren’t pushy, but they supported her interests. She participated in Disney and Shakespeare summer camps, joined London’s Original Kids Theatre Company at age 12, and later directed children’s theatre. She also performed in school productions and won an award at the Sears Ontario Drama Festival. Initially, she planned to study cultural studies at the University of Western Ontario, but her drama teacher convinced her to pursue acting professionally.

She enrolled in the four-year theatre program at York University and graduated with honours in 2001. During her studies, she also worked with Toronto’s Necessary Angel Theatre Company.

McAdams made her television debut in 2001 in MTV’s Shotgun Love Dolls and her Canadian film debut the same year in the comedy My Name Is Tanino, which was filmed in Sicily and marked her first trip on an airplane. She earned a Genie Award nomination for her role in the Canadian drama Perfect Pie.

In 2002, she appeared in her first Hollywood film, the comedy The Hot Chick, which she later described as a major turning point in her career. She played a self-absorbed high school student who switches bodies with a male criminal. Critics singled her out as a standout newcomer. She returned to Canada shortly afterward to appear in the comedy miniseries Slings and Arrows, earning two Gemini Award nominations and winning one.

McAdams’ breakthrough year came in 2004. She gained widespread recognition playing Regina George—the manipulative queen bee—in the hit comedy Mean Girls. Critics praised her comedic skill and screen presence, and the film earned her two MTV Movie Awards.

Later that year, she starred with Ryan Gosling in the romantic drama The Notebook, portraying Allie Hamilton, a young woman caught in a sweeping love story. McAdams prepared by immersing herself in Southern culture, studying ballet, and taking etiquette classes. Despite tension between her and Gosling during filming, the performances were widely praised, and the movie earned over $115 million worldwide. It became a cultural phenomenon, known for its iconic kiss scene, and brought McAdams multiple awards.

In 2005, she appeared in the hit comedy Wedding Crashers and followed it with the thriller Red Eye, where she played a hotel manager abducted during a late-night flight. Critics praised her ability to bring depth to genre roles and applauded her growing range. Later that year, she appeared in the ensemble comedy-drama The Family Stone, receiving further acclaim.

By this point, McAdams was widely regarded as Hollywood’s next major leading lady. However, after declining to participate in a nude photoshoot for Vanity Fair’s Hollywood issue—and parting ways with her publicist—she stepped away from acting between 2006 and 2007 to regain clarity about her career. During this break, she turned down high-profile roles in The Devil Wears Prada, Casino Royale, Mission: Impossible III, Iron Man, and Get Smart. She made a single stage appearance in The Vagina Monologues and received a BAFTA Rising Star Award nomination.

McAdams returned to filmmaking in 2008 with the noir drama Married Life, which she said reignited her passion for acting. She next appeared in the road-trip drama The Lucky Ones, earning critical praise despite the film’s limited box-office performance.

In 2009, she co-starred with Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck in the political thriller State of Play, followed by The Time Traveler’s Wife, based on the popular novel. She also joined Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law in Sherlock Holmes (2009), playing the cunning Irene Adler. The latter became one of the biggest films of the year.

She then starred in the 2010 workplace comedy Morning Glory, earning praise for her energetic performance. In 2011, she appeared in Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris, portraying Inez, the critical fiancée of Owen Wilson’s character. The film became Allen’s highest-grossing movie, and the cast received a SAG Award nomination.

More recently, McAdams co-starred with Will Ferrell in Netflix’s Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga. She reprised her role as Christine Palmer in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022). In 2023, she appeared in the film adaptation of Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, earning strong reviews for her portrayal of the title character’s mother.

She made her Broadway debut in 2024 in Mary Jane, earning critical praise and a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Play. She also appeared on Saturday Night Live in January 2024 in a cameo sketch playing a humorous look-alike of herself.

McAdams has twice been listed on the Maxim Hot 100 (in 2005 and 2013). Since 2016, she has been in a relationship with American screenwriter Jamie Linden. They share a son, born in 2018, and a daughter, born in 2020.