Rachel McAdams, star of this weekend’s “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret”, had a breakthrough 2004, with roles in iconic comedy “Mean Girls” and just as iconic romance drama “The Notebook”. She immediately rose to Hollywood’s A-list, and followed-up with a 2005 trifecta of comedy “Wedding Crashers”, thriller “Red Eye” and dramedy “The Family Stone”.
In a recent Vanity Fair interview, it was revealed McAdams then took a break from acting, turning down roles in comedies “The Devil Wears Prada” and “Get Smart” (with Anne Hathaway as the leading lady in both) and action blockbusters “Mission: Impossible III”, “Casino Royale” and “Iron Man”.
But McAdams returned to the big screen in a big way in 2009, with thriller “State of Play”, romance drama “The Time Traveler’s Wife” and *finally* getting to join Robert Downey, Jr., on “Sherlock Holmes”. In 2010, McAdams led my favorite film she’s been in… the one I told her I really like when we met at the Critics Choice Awards in 2016… “Morning Glory”. She co-starred in the charming news program comedy alongside Harrison Ford, Diane Keaton (a reunion from “The Family Stone”), Jeff Goldblum and Patrick Wilson.
Soon she was part of another ensemble for Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris” in 2011. At the end of that year she returned for sequel “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows”. Romance dramas “The Vow”, “To the Wonder” and “About Time” followed. Then came crime drama “A Most Wanted Man” and an excellent voice performance in awe-inspiring animated “The Little Prince” adaptation.
In May 2015, McAdams was featured in Cameron Crowe’s all-star disappointment “Aloha”, joining Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone, Bill Murray, Alec Baldwin and John Krasinski for a film they’d all probably like to forget. Two months later, McAdams earned praise for her supporting turn in “Southpaw”. Some argued she should’ve been Oscar nominated for her work in the boxing drama. Instead, she was Academy Award nominated a few months later for “Spotlight”, as Boston Globe reporter Sacha Pfeiffer.
McAdams was also in the Critics Choice and SAG Awards Supporting Actress category, and she and her castmates won the Independent Spirit Awards Robert Altman Award and Critics Choice & SAG Best Ensemble Award.
In 2016, McAdams *finally* joined the MCU in “Doctor Strange”. She returned for last year’s “In the Multiverse of Madness”. She starred opposite another Rachel, Ms. Weisz, in 2017’s “Disobedience”. And McAdams earned a Critics Choice Best Actress in a Comedy nomination for WB hit “Game Night” in 2018. Her 2020 musical comedy “Eurvision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga” was… well, they can’t all be winners.
Looking forward to seeing McAdams in “Margaret” and where her career takes her next!