Biography

Early Life

Rachel Anne McAdams was born on November 17, 1978 in London, Ontario and was raised in the nearby town of 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 began figure skating at the age of four and competed in the sport all the way through high school, earning regional honors. 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 from York with honors and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.

Early Career

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.

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).

Hollywood Breakthrough

An even bigger move, 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.

Back on the big screen, McAdams was on the hunt for imaginative scripts with challenging characters and her search paid off with “The Notebook” (2004), a star-crossed period romance between a spunky Southern debutante and a poor but charming small town man (Ryan Gosling). An effectively sentimental and emotional film, “The Notebook” proved to be McAdams’ breakout performance – the actress popped off the screen in nearly every scene she was in, running the full spectrum of emotion, and embodying a mature, classic Hollywood star quality that made directors take notice. And much to the delight of romantics everywhere, she and co-star Gosling paired up in real-life, enjoying a promising future as one of young Hollywood’s hippest and most private young couples until their breakup in 2007.

America’s Sweetheart

Hot on the heels of several hits and being proclaimed “America’s Sweetheart,” McAdams followed up with the Owen Wilson-Vince Vaughn smash comedy “Wedding Crashers” (2005), adding sparkle and verve to what might have otherwise been a thankless role as the woman who finally snares the inveterate wedding invader Wilson’s heart. On a roll, she then took center stage in the Wes Craven thriller “Red Eye” (2005), playing a resourceful hotel employee who finds herself trapped on an airline flight with a menacing stranger (Cillian Murphy) who terrorizes her to switch the room of a political guest at her hotel in exchange for her father’s life. Again McAdams demonstrated a strong on-screen magnetism and proved she could create a believable, relatable character in the midst of the most high-concept situation.

She next joined the ensemble cast of “The Family Stone” (2005), a smartly-done dramedy about the eldest son (Dermot Mulroney) of a bohemian family who brings his controlling New York girlfriend (Sarah Jessica Parker) home for the holidays. The ensuing battle of conflicting attitudes mixed with awkwardness and hostility causes relationships to split and secrets to be revealed.

Rachel starred in the flick “Married Life,” she had the opportunity to test her comparisons to Golden Age leading ladies like Kim Novak by playing a femme fatale involved in a murderous affair in a 1940s setting. The film was released in 2007. After taking a break from the public eye she returned in 2008 with the indie film “The Lucky Ones” (2008) about soldiers (Tim Robbins, Michael Peña & Rachel) returning home from a mission.

After the break

Rachel joined the ensemble cast of “State of Play” (2009) based on the BBC television series alongside Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Helen Mirren, Robin Wright and Jason Bateman. Cal (Russel Crow) and Della (Rachel McAdams) work alongside a police detective to try to solve the murder of a congressman’s mistress. Next for Rachel was the “The Time Traveler’s Wife” (2009) wich came out the same year as “State of Play” (2009). Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt bought the film right to Audrey Niffenegger’s novel “The Time Traveler’s Wife” (2009). Brad Pitt kept attached by producting the film but the lead roles went to Rachel and Eric Bana.

In december 2009 “Sherlock Holmes” (2009) was released in the US and UK. The movie was the first re-make of “Sherlock Holmes” in years with Guy Ritchie as director. Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law were the leads in the film as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson. Rachel was again playing a femme fatale, the only women Sherlock ever loved: Irene Adler.

A year after the release of “The Time Traveler’s Wife” Rachel will star alongside Harrison Ford and Diane Keaton in “Morning Glory” written by “The Devil Wears Prada” writer Aline Brosh McKenna and directed by the “Nothing Hill” director Roger Michell. Rachel will be the lead in the comedy about Becky Fuller, a tv producer. She is set the challenge of reviving a struggling morning show program, despite the constant feuding of its high-profile anchors. The film will be released november 12th 2010.

Rachel met actor Josh Lucas via her “Sherlock Holmes” co-star Jude Law and they dated a few months in 2009. She is currently dating her “Midnight in Paris” co-star Michael Sheen.

Return to prominence

In the summer of 2010 Rachel was filming her upcoming project “Midnight in Paris” (2011) directed and written by Woody Allen alongside her “Wedding Crashers” co-star Owen Wilson and Marion Cotillard, Michael Sheen and Adrien Brody. It is a romantic comedy about a family traveling to the French capital for business. Rachel’s role is still unkown.

Right after filming “Midnight in Paris” (2011) Rachel returned back to her homecountry Canada to start filming “The Vow” alongside Channing Tatum. “The Vow” is based on the true story of Kim and Krickitt Carpenter. It tells the story of a newlywed couple recovers from a car accident that puts the wife (Rachel) in a coma. Waking up with with severe memory loss, her husband (Tatum) endeavors to win her heart again.

After filming “The Vow“, which wrapped late October 2010, Rachel will film the currently untitled Terrence Malick Project in Oklahoma. It was rumored Rachel plays Jane, the ‘other women’ in the story but because of Terrence Malick secretive work method it’s not yet confirmed.

Rachel had a busy month of promotion in November in the United States and continued her promotion tour in Europe in January for “Morning Glory“. After the European promotion tour for “Morning Glory” Rachel flew to Strasbourg in the first week of February to film her cameo as Irene Adler for “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows“. In March 2011 Rachel returned to Oklahoma for (re-)shoots for the Terrence Malick project.

Rachel and her co-stars premiered “Midnight in Paris” in New York a few days after Cannes in 2011. The movie broke several records, including being 2011′s best opening weekend for a limited released. It also become Woody Allen’s highest grossing movie ever.

What’s next?

Rachel stayed low-key and took some time to breath, after her busy year in 2010, in the Fall/Winter of 2011. She did not work for a few months. She attended the opening night for “Hamlet” to support her boyfriend Michael Sheen in the Young Vic Theater in London mid November.

Rachel and her co-star Robert Downey Jr. returned to London late September to shoot additional scenes for “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows“. Both their busy working schedules caused the late shoot. Since Rachel only has a small appearance in the movie, they originally didn’t plan to bring back Irene in the sequel, she only attended the Los Angeles premiere for the movie in December.

Rachel and her co-star Channing Tatum kicked off their international promotion tour for “The Vow” in London mid January of 2012, a month before the release of the movie. They also had a few days of press in Munich, Germany before heading back to Los Angeles to promote the movie in the US. The movie topped the box office in it’s opening weekend and grossed over 100 million only 3 weeks after it’s release.

Rachel flew to Berlin late february to start working on “Passion“, a really dark thriller with director Brian de Palma. She is joined by her “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows” co-star Noomi Rapace. The movie starts principal filming on March 5, 2012 and will shoot entirely on location for 10 weeks in Berlin. She has several rumored/in development movies at the movie. She is rumored to be attached to “The Emperor’s Children” with Keira Knightley, Emma Thompson and director Scott Cooper. Shooting is expected spring/summer of 2012.

Both “Passion” (late 2012) and the untitled Terrence Malick Project (rumored to premiere at Cannes) are expected to release in 2012.
-This biography was last updated March 2012.