Rachel McAdams grew up thinking that she'd end up running children's theater in Canada,
but instead she became a Hollywood icon. In the process, she's also managed to forge
a unique path that suits her lifestyle. Keep watching to witness her stunning transformation.
McAdams' upbringing sounds nothing short of idyllic.
She grew up the eldest of three children in the town of St. Thomas in Ontario, Canada.
By all accounts, her family were regular people. Her mom was a nurse and her dad was a truck
driver. They spent their summers doing plenty of stereotypically Canadian activities, from swimming
in the Great Lakes to sledding in the woods and playing in the snow. McAdams loved sports and
has even described herself as a bit of a jock. She talked about her upbringing with Stylist, noting,
"[My parents] have always treated each other with a lot of kindness,
so that was a great thing to watch. They are both worker bees and passed on a work ethic.
They weren’t strict but we were expected to pull our weight and be independent."
In 2011, she talked about how inspiring her parents are by revealing to the Independent,
saying
"They are still together and still in love.
I'm very blessed that way. I had a great example of love in front of me,
and that's probably what makes me such a romantic, because I've seen it firsthand."
McAdams caught the acting bug early in life. When she was just 7 years old,
she wrote her parents a letter telling them her plan to become an actress. They helped her pursue
her dream, sending her to acting lessons and camps throughout her childhood. By the time she was 12,
she'd truly become obsessed after playing a fairy in a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.
But despite her grand dreams, she didn't really think she would ever end up
acting professionally. Instead, as she revealed to the Los Angeles Times, she thought she'd act
in Canadian theater and become the artistic director of a children's theater company.
But eventually McAdams did keep taking steps towards her dream job.
After graduating from high school, she went to theater school at the age of 18.
But she almost took a completely different path. She had originally intended to pursue cultural
studies, but then her drama teacher asked her why she wasn't going into theater. This was exactly
the nudge she needed to pluck up the courage to follow her dreams. She changed her application
last minute, and the next year, she began in the theater program at Toronto's York University.
McAdams got her first professional acting role in a 2001 episode of the Disney Channel
show The Famous Jett Jackson. She then remained busy for the next few years,
appearing in films like Perfect Pie and The Hot Chick, both released in 2002. But it wasn't until
2004 that she got her big break. If you're a fan of hers, you of course remember her iconic turn
as vicious queen bee Regina George in the high school comedy classic Mean Girls.
Interestingly enough, the role came as a shock to McAdams. As she revealed to The Times of
London in 2018, she originally thought that she was being considered for the role of Cady , a
part that eventually went to Lindsay Lohan . Nevertheless, she was thrilled, as she admitted,
"It's much more fun to play the villain."
"How many of you have ever felt personally victimized by Regina George?"
All these years later, fans are still shouting quotes from the movie to McAdams when they pass
her on the street. It's safe to say that Mean Girls shot her into the public eye in a big way.
She ended up earning two MTV Movie Awards for her performance, as well as loads of
critical praise. And with that, another star had entered the Hollywood galaxy.
Shortly after the release of Mean Girls, McAdams wowed filmgoers again that same year just a few
months later when she played Allie in The Notebook, which ended up becoming another
iconic hit. The Nicholas Sparks-penned romance still has a legion of dedicated fans to this day,
so it's no surprise then that McAdams' part in it helped make her one of the most popular actresses
in Hollywood. Studio executives even went so far as to label her "the next Julia Roberts."
In other words, the industry expected her to become the "It" girl of Hollywood romances.
But at the time of pre-production for The Notebook, McAdams was the farthest thing from
one of the biggest stars in the world. Mean Girls still hadn't come out yet, and for the
most part she was relatively unknown. As Notebook director Nick Cassavetes revealed to VH1 in 2014,
"We found Rachel through an audition process and she was wonderful.
A lot of studios wouldn't have had the courage to put two relatively unknown
people in a movie like this. But they did and, gosh, weren’t they terrific?"
"I waited for you for seven years, and now it's too late."
One year after Mean Girls and The Notebook, McAdams appeared in Wedding Crashers,
which arrived in theaters in 2005. It was yet another smash hit, further solidifying her as
an up-and-coming megastar. It looked like her career was headed to a level of stratospheric
heights with relative ease. But instead of diving in headfirst, she did something unexpected.
After appearing in Red Eye and The Family Stone later that year, she decided to take a break,
and her next film didn't arrive for another two years. As she later explained to Stylist,
"It wasn't a conscious break as much as a reassessment. I felt like I was getting swept
up with the current and wanted to make sure I was making my choices from the right place."
Throughout her career, McAdams has held onto this mindset. As she described it to Stylist,
"I've always valued the time I have off in between jobs.
There's an exorcism that happens after each part."
While McAdams was on her acting break, she decided to do some solo travelling, as she ventured
around the globe to Australia and Costa Rica. Her adventures included flying in a tiny four-seater
plane, exploring a rainforest, sleeping in a sketchy hotel while clutching a Swiss Army knife,
visiting a volcanic black beach, and staying in a cabin with no electricity.
The experience was sometimes terrifying, but as she told Stylist,
"I would do it that way all over again, it was life-changing. You get to prove to yourself what
you’re made of. In this business it’s allowed me to not become too attached to material things."
As an actor, this proved to be an essential skill, as she also noted,
"Now I feel like if [the success] all went away tomorrow, I know I would be OK.
I think it's also allowed me to make choices in my career that are coming from the right place."
It's pretty amazing how McAdams used her time off to reconnect with herself,
learn some survival skills, and recalibrate her career!
McAdams's time abroad also helped her develop a connection with the natural world,
which she discussed in a 2009 interview with The Fan Carpet. As she explained,
"Growing up I had a real disconnect with the planet. I would go to the
beach in my turtleneck, all bundled up. I would read my book and kind of scowl,
but I hadn’t seen the most beautiful beaches in the world."
"I was a fairy princess, with a turtleneck."
But after McAdams visited Australia's incredible beaches, that all changed. As she put it,
"My relationship to the planet expanded. I started to connect to it more and be more aware."
With her renewed interest in the planet came a passion for environmentalism.
She considers herself an environmentalist, though some of her views may be a little unfashionable.
As she confessed to Stylist, she sometimes wonders whether we should just, quote,
"use up all the oil and then we can finally figure out something else.
I know that sounds a bit jaded but it’s coming from a good place."
McAdams' passion for the environment even led to her creating a website that
encouraged people to find their own little ways of contributing to a greener lifestyle.
After traveling the world and re-assessing her career choices,
McAdams returned to showbiz with a much better idea of the direction she wanted
her career to take. She actually turned down a few incredible opportunities,
including Anne Hathaway's part in The Devil Wears Prada as well as the chance to play a Bond girl.
She was more interested in challenging roles, even if they didn't promise the same levels
of fame as her earlier movie. These lower-budget films included the mid-20th century period piece
Married Life, the military dramedy The Lucky Ones, and the political thriller State of Play.
As her True Detective co-star Colin Farrell noted in an interview with The Statesman,
"Rachel is navigating her career in a really interesting way.
It feels like she's seeking out the potential of what we do for a living."
In 2015, Rachel McAdams starred as one of the lead detectives in the second season of HBO's
crime drama True Detective. Her attraction to the part was immediate. As she told Stylist,
"I felt connected to Ani on a gut level. I understood her as soon as I read her."
"She knows that this is just really dark and goes really deep."
McAdams' extensive research for the role ended up teaching her a lot. As she revealed to Stylist,
"I did a ride-along with the police and I learned that everybody is lying to everybody else.
I get it now when police officers are cynical,
because the criminals are always trying to pull one over on them."
During the filming of True Detective, McAdams got a taste of the action-packed,
adrenaline-inducing life of a police officer.
In fact, as she revealed to Variety, during one particularly intense shootout scene,
she actually vomited after having to run 200 yards several times. It sure sounds like she now
has a newfound appreciation for the unforgiving physical demands of a career in law enforcement.
In April 2018, McAdams gave birth to her first child with her partner, screenwriter Jamie Linden.
She's always been private about her family, which is understandable, especially in light
of the media storm that followed her previous romantic relationship with Ryan Gosling. In fact,
she's never even publicly revealed her son's name. As she told The Times of London in 2018,
"I want to keep his life private, even if mine isn't."
Even though McAdams kept the details private,
she didn't mind gushing about the experience of motherhood. The timing just felt right,
as she had waited quite a while for it to happen. As she described it to The Times,
"I'm having more fun being a mum than I've ever had.
Everything about it is interesting and exciting and inspiring to me."
In 2020, McAdams once again opened up about her son during a virtual event called "Heroes of
Health: COVID-19 Stream-a-thon." She revealed that her boy had been endlessly entertaining,
thus helping to keep the boredom at bay during the pandemic.
While we don't know too many intimate details about McAdams' life as a mom,
it's still sweet to hear the few times she does gush about her son in public.
You might assume that Rachel McAdams would live in Los Angeles,
as she is a major Hollywood actress. But as it turns out, she's opted to instead to head back
north of the border to her home country. For her, being in Canada means living the lifestyle
that suits her best. She consistently returns to her home in Toronto after each of her projects.
As she told the CBC in 2016, staying grounded by living in Toronto is, quote,
"kind of everything for me and for my sanity. It
helps me be better in my work to just step away from [Hollywood]."
Living in Canada has allowed McAdams to make the career choices that she really wants to be making,
rather than getting swept up by the whims of the industry.
Furthermore, her day-to-day life is pretty low-key. She frequently bikes around the city,
visiting cool areas like the Annex and Kensington Market.
It sure sounds like she's found a work-life balance that works for her, and we love to see it!
Check out one of our newest videos right here!
Plus, even more List videos about your favorite stars are coming soon.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one.