Rachel McAdams

Background

Rachel Anne McAdams was born on November 17, 1978, in London, Ontario, Canada. Her father, Lance McAdams, worked as a truck driver while her mother, Sandra Gale, was a nurse. She is the eldest of three siblings with a younger sister, Kayleen, who works as a make-up artist, and a younger brother, Daniel, who is a personal trainer. McAdams grew up in St. Thomas and was raised in a Protestant family. She has English, Scottish, Irish, and Welsh ancestry. James Gray, her maternal fifth great-grandfather, was a Ranger who remained loyal to the crown during the American Revolution from 1765 to 1791. He fled to Canada after the Battles of Saratoga in 1777. McAdams discovered her love for performing when she was seven years old. As a child, she used to attend both Disney and Shakespeare summer camps, and she took part in the Original Kids Theatre Company. She was in the company from 12 years old until her late teens when she began to direct children’s theater productions. Among her earlier achievements, she won a performance award at the Sears Ontario Drama Festival. Initially, McAdams thought of taking cultural studies at the University of Western Ontario. However, her drama teacher convinced her to consider a professional acting career. McAdams graduated from York University in 2001 after completing a four-year theater program with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts. During this time, she also worked with the Necessary Angel Theatre Company, which was based in Toronto.

McAdams’ first TV debut took place in the same year she finished her study as the character Beth Swanson in M.T.V.’s 2001 “Shotgun Love Dolls.” Her film debut in Canada was in the 2002’s comedy “My Name is Tanino.” McAdams later moved to Los Angeles and snatched the lead role in “The Hot Chick” opposite Rob Schneider, a 2002 comedy where she played a high school girl who suddenly had her body switched with a male criminal. However, her breakthrough role was none other than the iconic ‘Queen Bee’ Regina George in the critically successful 2004 teen comedy, “Mean Girls.” Cast alongside her was Lindsay Lohan, Amanda Seyfried, and Lacey Chabert. Written by Tina Fey, the movie amassed $129 million worldwide, earning McAdams two M.T.V. Movie Awards. She starred in the 2004 adaptation of “The Notebook,” a best-selling novel by Nicholas Sparks, opposite Ryan Gosling. Her multifaceted talent was further proven through her next roles spanning various genres, including the comedy “Wedding Crashers” and thriller film “Red Eye,” both in 2005.

Between 2006 to 2007, McAdams took a hiatus from her career. She rejected multiple roles, including popular titles like “The Devil Wears Prada,” Mission Impossible III,” and “Casino Royale,” all in 2006. Her comeback to the screen was in the 2009 crime drama film, “State of Play.” She also starred in “The Time Traveler’s Wife” with Eric Bana, a film based on Audrey Niffenegger’s novel. McAdams was the face behind the enigmatic Irene Adler in two “Sherlock Holmes” movies in 2009 and 2011, where she played alongside Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, who was cast as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s legendary detective and his trusty partner, Dr. Watson. She continued to shine in numerous movies of diverse genres to this day. Among her most recent works was the character Christine Palmer in Marvel’s 2016 film, “Doctor Strange,” and its 2022 sequel, “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.” Throughout her career, McAdams has received a lot of awards and nominations, including the Screen Actors Guild Award, Satellite Award, the Independent Spirit Award, and the Critics’ Choice Movie for her portrayal of Sacha Pfeiffer in “Spotlight,” a 2015 movie about the Boston’s Catholic Church child abuse scandal. The film itself won the Academy Awards for Best Picture and was praised for its detailed story and cast performance, earning McAdams an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She dated her former co-star Ryan Gosling from 2005 to 2007. After a brief reunion in 2008, the two separated for good and McAdams later had a relationship with her “Midnight in Paris” co-star, Michael Sheen, between 2010 and 2013. In 2016, she started dating screenwriter Jamie Linden, with whom she had a son who was born in April 2018. McAdams was reportedly expecting her second child with Linden in August 2020 but has not confirmed it even now, staying true to a statement she made in an interview that she wants to keep her family’s life private.