Rachel McAdams

Infobox actor
name = Rachel McAdams


imagesize = 240px
caption = McAdams at the Toronto Film Festival, September 2007
birthname = Rachel Anne McAdams
birthdate = November 17, 1978
birthplace = London, Ontario, Canada
othername =
occupation = Actress
yearsactive = 2001–present
homepage =

Rachel Anne McAdams (born November 17 1978, [http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/8425/thelondonfreepressut4.pngBirth announcement in The London Free Press] , December 7, 1978] [ [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15606464/ MSNBC "Today in history: November 17"] ] often reported as October 7 1976 [http://www.people.com/people/rachel_mcadams People magazine bio] ] ) is a multiple Teen Choice Award and MTV Movie Award-winning Canadian actress. She is known for her roles in the Hollywood films "Mean Girls", "The Notebook", "Wedding Crashers" and "Red Eye".

Biography

Early life

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. [ [http://www.filmreference.com/film/97/Rachel-McAdams.html Rachel McAdams Biography 1976 ] ] 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 twelvecite web|url= http://www.nytimes.com/indexes/2008/08/17/style/t/index.html#pagewanted=0&pageName=17coverw&|title= Crazy Like a Fox|accessdate= 2008-09-02|author= Lynn Hirschberg|publisher= new York Times] at a summer theatre camp in St. Thomas, Ontario named Original Kids. When the company extended to a year-round company (and eventually relocated to London, Ontario), she was invited to continue with them. She attended the Myrtle Street Public School [ [http://www.tmz.com/2007/03/14/a-peak-at-rachels-third-grade-notebook/ A Peek at Rachel's Third Grade "Notebook"] ] 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.

Career

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). She was much older than the character she played. 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. [ [http://film.guardian.co.uk/interview/interviewpages/0,,2015640,00.html 'I live on Skid Row. You can't filter out reality there' | Interviews | Guardian Unlimited Film ] ] They broke up in 2007. [ [http://men.style.com/gq/features/full?id=content_6136 THE LONER: GQ Features on men.style.com ] ] [ [http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20152855,00.html Ryan Gosling Consoled Fans After Rachel McAdams Split - Breakups, Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling : People.com ] ] McAdams and Gosling were seen embracing each other at a restaurant near her Toronto home.cite web|title=Rachel and Ryan Reunited|date=2008-02-21|url=http://omg.yahoo.com/photos/rachel-and-ryan-reunited/2228#id=3|accessdate=2008-09-22 "OMG! at Yahoo!"]

In 2005, she played Owen Wilson's love interest in "Wedding Crashers" and then starred in the suspense thriller "Red Eye" as Lisa Reisert, where she played a young woman held captive aboard a red-eye flight by criminal-for-hire and assassin Jackson Rippner (Cillian Murphy). Rachel was in "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 only just lost the part to Jessica Alba. [ [http://www.kidzworld.com/article/5799-rachel-mcadams-biography Rachel McAdams Biography | The Notebook | Mean Girls | Bio | Picture | Ryan Gosling | Movie | Height | Photo | Age ] ]

McAdam'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 in May 2006 that she did not want to star in a big-budget action film because she wanted to pursue other projects.

Despite having appeared nude in "The Notebook" 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. [ [http://www.vanityfair.com/fame/features/video/2006/03/keira_video200603 Keira Knightley/Scarlett Johansson Vanity Fair cover shoot: Fame & Scandal: vanityfair.com ] ] 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.

The latest movie she starred in (as a reporter) is "State of Play". Filming was originally scheduled to start in November 2007, but after the film lost its two leading actors, Brad Pitt and Edward Norton, the movie has been delayed, started in late January and wrapped production in April 2008.

In October 2008, McAdams was announced to be starring in Guy Ritchie's new film "Sherlock Holmes" [ [http://www.accesshollywood.com/access-exclusive-rachel-mcadams-cast-in-guy-ritchies-sherlock-holmes_article_11405 Rachel McAdams cast in Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes: accesshollywood.com ] ] - an adaption of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic novel. McAdams will play the role of Irene Adler alongside Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law. Filming began in October for release a year later.

Awards and achievements

McAdams received popular acclaim for both roles and was honored for her work, most recently a record number of five nominations and three wins at the MTV Movie Awards in 2005. McAdams beat competition including Beyoncé Knowles and Jessica Alba. She won the MTV award for 'Best Kiss' along with Ryan Gosling in "The Notebook".

McAdams was nominated for a Genie Award for her role in "Perfect Pie". She was also nominated for the BAFTA's Orange Rising Star award which acknowledges the new talents in the acting industry. The award went to James McAvoy.

She hosted the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences's 2006 Scientific and Technical Awards. McAdams received a Civic Award for her contribution to culture from the city of St. Thomas in 2006.

Filmography/television

References

External links

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* [http://www.elle.com/coverstory/11055/rachel-mcadams.html Rachel McAdams - ELLE]
* [http://www.greenissexy.org/ Rachel McAdams' Environmental Site]

Persondata
NAME=McAdams, Rachel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Canadian actress
DATE OF BIRTH=November 17, 1976
PLACE OF BIRTH=London, Ontario, Canada
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=