90 Facts About Rachel McAdams

Rachel Anne McAdams was born on November 17,1978 and is a Canadian actress.

Rachel McAdams rose to fame in 2004 with the comedy Mean Girls and the romantic drama The Notebook.

Rachel McAdams was hailed by the media as Hollywood's new "it girl", and received a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Rising Star.

Rachel McAdams grew up in St Thomas in a Protestant household.

Rachel McAdams's maternal fifth great-grandfather, James Gray, was a Loyalist Ranger during the American Revolution and fled to Canada after the Battles of Saratoga.

Rachel McAdams began figure skating when she was four, but turned down an opportunity to move to Toronto when she was nine for pair skating training.

Rachel McAdams skated competitively until she was 18, winning regional awards.

Rachel McAdams has said that skating prepared her for acting by teaching her to be "in tune" with her body.

Rachel McAdams attended Myrtle Street Public School and Central Elgin Collegiate Institute.

Rachel McAdams said that she did not enjoy academic work and often pretended to be sick to avoid going to school.

Rachel McAdams worked at a McDonald's restaurant during summer holidays for three years.

Rachel McAdams was involved in school stage productions, most notably winning a performance award at the Sears Ontario Drama Festival.

Rachel McAdams was inspired by two of her teachers, who taught her English and drama, respectively, in grades 11 and 12.

Rachel McAdams intended to take cultural studies at the University of Western Ontario before being persuaded by her drama teacher that a professional acting career was a viable option.

Rachel McAdams enrolled in York University's four-year theatre program and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts honours degree in 2001.

In 2001, Rachel McAdams made her television debut in the MTV pilot Shotgun Love Dolls as Beth Swanson, which was filmed during spring break from York University.

Rachel McAdams made her Canadian film debut that year in the comedy My Name is Tanino.

The Italian-Canadian co-production was filmed in Sicily when Rachel McAdams was 22 years old, and it marked her first time on an airplane.

Rachel McAdams later earned a Genie Award nomination in Canada for her role in the drama Perfect Pie.

In 2002, she made her Hollywood film debut with Rob Schneider and Anna Faris in the comedy The Hot Chick, which Rachel McAdams has described as a "huge milestone" in her career.

Rachel McAdams played a catty high school student who swaps bodies with Schneider's character, a small-time criminal.

Rachel McAdams was written out of the second season of the program following her success in the United States.

Rachel McAdams received two Gemini Award nominations for her work on the program, winning one.

Rachel McAdams was 24 years old when she was cast as the mean high school queen bee Regina George, and she modelled her character on Alec Baldwin's performance in the drama Glengarry Glen Ross.

Later in 2004, Rachel McAdams starred opposite fellow Canadian Ryan Gosling in the romantic drama The Notebook, based on Nicholas Sparks' novel of the same name.

Rachel McAdams played Allie Hamilton, a wealthy Southern belle who has a forbidden love affair with Gosling's poor labourer, Noah Calhoun.

Rachel McAdams spent time in Charleston, South Carolina, prior to filming to familiarize herself with the Southern accent, and took ballet and etiquette classes.

Rachel McAdams won an MTV Movie Award and four Teen Choice Awards.

In 2005, Rachel McAdams starred with Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn, and Bradley Cooper in the romantic comedy Wedding Crashers.

Rachel McAdams played the daughter of an influential politician, who is caught in a love triangle with Wilson and Cooper's characters.

Manohla Dargis of The New York Times felt Rachel McAdams "makes the most of her underdeveloped character" and "grows more appealing with every new role".

Craven has said Rachel McAdams was the only actress he considered for the part.

Rachel McAdams was drawn to the relatable qualities of her character: "Rachel McAdams was not some sweaty, tank-top-wearing, Uzi-carrying super woman".

In late 2005, Rachel McAdams starred with Sarah Jessica Parker and Diane Keaton in the seasonal family comedy-drama The Family Stone, which gave Rachel McAdams an opportunity to play a dishevelled and sardonic sister, rather than the usual "obvious" girlfriend or wife roles.

At this point in her career, Rachel McAdams was hailed as "the next Julia Roberts" and the new "Hollywood it girl".

Rachel McAdams later parted ways with her publicist at the time, who had not informed her in advance.

Rachel McAdams took a break from her film career from 2006 to 2007.

That same year, Rachel McAdams received a Rising Star Award nomination from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and hosted the Academy Awards for Technical Achievement.

Rachel McAdams starred with Pierce Brosnan and Chris Cooper in the 1940s film noir Married Life where she played Kay Nesbitt, a young widow who wins the affections of Brosnan and Cooper's older characters.

In preparation for the role, Rachel McAdams studied old films, particularly those of Kim Novak.

Rachel McAdams has said the film shoot re-energized and re-inspired her and made her eager to continue working more often again.

Rachel McAdams trained at a real boot camp, at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, prior to filming.

In 2011, Rachel McAdams said that Colee Dunn was "probably one of my favorite characters I've ever played".

In 2009, Rachel McAdams starred with Russell Crowe, Helen Mirren and Ben Affleck in the political thriller State of Play, based on the BBC drama television series of the same name.

Rachel McAdams played Della Frye, an online reporter who investigates a possible conspiracy with Crowe's character, a veteran print journalist.

Rachel McAdams visited The Washington Posts offices and met with politicians on Capitol Hill for her research.

Also in 2009, Rachel McAdams starred opposite Eric Bana in the science fiction romantic drama The Time Traveler's Wife, based on Audrey Niffenegger's best-selling novel of the same name.

Rachel McAdams fell "madly in love" with the novel, but was initially slightly hesitant to accept the role because Clare Abshire, the long-suffering wife is a "character that people have already cast in their heads".

Rachel McAdams has an unusually easy touch with both comedy and drama, and she never holds a melodramatic moment hostage.

Rachel McAdams played Irene Adler, an antagonist and love interest of Downey's title character Sherlock Holmes, and welcomed the opportunity to play a character who is "her own boss and a real free spirit".

Todd McCarthy of Variety felt her character was "not very well integrated into the rest of the story, a shortcoming the normally resourceful Rachel McAdams is unable to do much about".

Rachel McAdams is a perfectly charming actress and performs gamely as the third wheel of this action-bromance tricycle.

In 2010, Rachel McAdams starred with her The Family Stone co-star Diane Keaton and Harrison Ford in the comedy Morning Glory.

Rachel McAdams played a television producer attempting to improve the poor ratings of a morning television program.

The film's director Roger Michell had a number of dinners with Rachel McAdams and persuaded her to join the cast.

Since working with Keaton, Rachel McAdams has described her as a mentor figure.

Rachel McAdams later expressed her disappointment that the film failed to find a larger audience.

In 2011, Rachel McAdams starred in Woody Allen's fantasy romantic comedy Midnight in Paris with her Wedding Crashers co-star Owen Wilson and Michael Sheen.

Rachel McAdams played Inez, the shrewish fiancee of Wilson's character Gil.

Rachel McAdams said that he was "crazy about Rachel" and wanted to give her the opportunity to play something other than "beautiful girls".

The film was shot on location in Paris and Rachel McAdams has said that the experience "will always have a great place in my heart".

In 2012, Rachel McAdams starred opposite Channing Tatum in the romantic drama The Vow, based on a true story.

Rachel McAdams was drawn to the "roller coaster" faced by her character and found it interesting that the story was told "through the guy's eyes".

Joseph Amodio of Newsday felt that Rachel McAdams, "exuding her usual uncanny warmth on-screen", "is the real draw".

In 2013, Rachel McAdams co-starred opposite Ben Affleck in Terrence Malick's romantic drama To the Wonder.

Rachel McAdams played a horse ranch worker in Oklahoma and the love interest of Affleck's character.

Rachel McAdams found Malick to be an "incredibly helpful" director; they discussed her character in detail and he took her on a tour of the local town, pointing out which house she would have grown up in and where she would have attended school.

Oliver Lyttelton of IndieWire noted that "Rachel McAdams has the least to do of the principals, but is wonderfully haunted and sad in her brief appearances".

In 2013, Rachel McAdams starred in Richard Curtis' romantic comedy-drama About Time opposite Domhnall Gleeson.

Richard Lawson of Vanity Fair noted that Rachel McAdams had a "little less success with her accent" than her co-star Hoffman but, nonetheless, she "proves as intelligent, soulful, and magnetic a presence as ever".

In late 2014, Rachel McAdams received a star on Canada's Walk of Fame.

In 2015, Rachel McAdams starred with Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo and Stanley Tucci as journalist Sacha Pfeiffer in Tom McCarthy's Spotlight, a drama about the child-abuse scandal in Boston's Catholic Church.

Rachel McAdams next starred with her Wedding Crashers co-star Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone and John Krasinski in Cameron Crowe's romantic comedy-drama Aloha.

Rachel McAdams played the ex-girlfriend of Cooper's character, who is married to Krasinski's character with two children.

Rachel McAdams co-starred with Jake Gyllenhaal in the boxing drama Southpaw, where she played the wife of Gyllenhaal's character.

Also in 2015, Rachel McAdams played Buttercup in a one-off, staged LACMA Live Read of The Princess Bride.

Rachel McAdams is one of cinema's most accomplished and appealing comic actresses.

Rachel McAdams reprised the role of Christine Palmer in the superhero sequel Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

Rachel McAdams travels around Toronto by bicycle and does not own a car, but drives when in Los Angeles because it is "a harder town to cycle in".

Rachel McAdams volunteered in Biloxi, Mississippi and Louisiana in fall of 2005, as part of the clean-up effort following Hurricane Katrina.

Rachel McAdams appealed for donations during the Canada for Haiti telethon in 2010.

Rachel McAdams was involved in Matter of Trust's "hair boom" efforts following the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

In 2011, Rachel McAdams supported Foodstock, a protest against a proposed limestone mega quarry in Melancthon, Ontario.

In 2006, Rachel McAdams took part in the "Day Without Immigrants" demonstration in Los Angeles, protesting the federal government's attempts to further criminalize immigrants living illegally in the United States.

In 2013, Rachel McAdams volunteered with Habitat for Humanity in her hometown of St Thomas.

Rachel McAdams has worked with charities including the Sunshine Foundation of Canada, the Alzheimer's Association, the READ Campaign, and United Way of Canada.

Rachel McAdams had a relationship with her The Notebook co-star Ryan Gosling from 2005 to 2007, before they briefly reunited in 2008.

From 2010 to 2013, Rachel McAdams was in a relationship with her Midnight in Paris co-star Michael Sheen.

Rachel McAdams has received numerous awards and nominations throughout her career.

Rachel McAdams has been nominated for a BAFTA Rising Star Award and won numerous MTV Movie Awards and Teen Choice Awards.