Rachel McAdams

Rachel Anne McAdams is a Canadian actress born on November 17, 1978, in London, Ontario, Canada, to Sandra McAdams, a nurse, and Lance McAdams, a truck driver. She grew up in St. Thomas, Ontario, in a Protestant household as the eldest of three children, with a younger sister who works as a makeup artist and a younger brother who is a personal trainer. Of Scottish, English, Irish, and Welsh descent, McAdams developed an interest in performing at age seven and began participating in Original Kids Theatre Company productions in London from age twelve. She attended Myrtle Street Public School and Central Elgin Collegiate Institute, where she was involved in student council, the Crime Stoppers program, and the Peer Helping Team, and won a performance award at the Sears Ontario Drama Festival. She also competed as a figure skater from age four until she was eighteen, winning regional awards. After graduating from York University in 2001 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts honours degree in theatre, she began her professional career.

McAdams made her television debut in 2001 in the MTV pilot Shotgun Love Dolls and her Canadian film debut that same year in My Name Is Tanino, earning a subsequent Genie Award nomination for her role in Perfect Pie. Her Hollywood film debut came in 2002 in the comedy The Hot Chick. Her breakthrough arrived in 2004 with two major releases: the comedy Mean Girls, in which she played high school antagonist Regina George opposite Lindsay Lohan, and the romantic drama The Notebook, in which she starred opposite Ryan Gosling as Allie Hamilton. Mean Girls grossed $129 million worldwide and earned McAdams two MTV Movie Awards. In 2005, she appeared in three additional films — the romantic comedy Wedding Crashers, the psychological thriller Red Eye, and the comedy-drama The Family Stone — and received a nomination for the BAFTA Rising Star Award.

Following a hiatus from high-profile film work, McAdams returned with a series of prominent roles across multiple genres. She appeared in The Time Traveler's Wife and Sherlock Holmes in 2009, Morning Glory in 2010, Midnight in Paris in 2011, The Vow in 2012, and About Time in 2013. Her portrayal of journalist Sacha Pfeiffer in the 2015 drama Spotlight earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. That same year, she starred in the second season of HBO's anthology crime drama True Detective, receiving a Critics' Choice Television Award nomination for Best Actress in a Miniseries or Movie. She subsequently appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Doctor Strange in 2016 and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness in 2022, the romantic drama Disobedience in 2017, the comedies Game Night in 2018 and Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga in 2020, the comedy-drama Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. in 2023, and the horror-thriller Send Help in 2026. In 2026, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Her films have collectively grossed over $3.4 billion worldwide.

McAdams made her Broadway debut in 2024 in the musical Mary Jane McKane, playing a struggling single mother in Amy Herzog's play Mary Jane. The role earned her a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Play as well as a Theatre World Award in 2024.