RACHEL MCADAMS
Name: Rachel Anne McAdams
Born: 17 November 1978 London, Ontario, Canada
Rachel Anne McAdams (born November 17, 1978) is a Canadian actress. She is
known for her roles in the Hollywood films Mean Girls, The Notebook, Wedding
Crashers and Red Eye.
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 London, Ontario named Original Kids. When the company extended to a year-round
company, she was invited to continue with them. 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.
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.
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). 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 at the last minute.
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
didn't 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.
Name: Rachel Anne McAdams
Born: 17 November 1978 London, Ontario, Canada
Rachel Anne McAdams (born November 17, 1978) is a Canadian actress. She is
known for her roles in the Hollywood films Mean Girls, The Notebook, Wedding
Crashers and Red Eye.
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 London, Ontario named Original Kids. When the company extended to a year-round
company, she was invited to continue with them. 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.
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.
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). 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 at the last minute.
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
didn't 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.