Rachel McAdams

McAdams has been partnered with American screenwriter Jamie Linden since 2016. They have two children, a son born in 2018 and a daughter born in 2020.

Earlier, McAdams was in a relationship with her The Notebook co-star Ryan Gosling from 2005 to 2007, with a brief reunion in 2008. She later dated Welsh actor Michael Sheen for two and a half years before their separation in 2013, and was partnered with music manager Patrick Sambrook from 2013 to 2014.

McAdams grew up in St. Thomas, Ontario, as the eldest of three children. Her mother, Sandra, was a nurse, and her father, Lance McAdams, was a truck driver and furniture mover. She has a younger sister, Kayleen McAdams, and a younger brother, Daniel McAdams.

She began figure skating at four and competed regionally until she was 18, winning several awards. McAdams developed an interest in performing at seven, joined the Original Kids Theatre Company at 12, and later directed children's theatre productions. She studied theatre at York University, worked with Toronto's Necessary Angel Theatre Company, and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 2001.

McAdams made her television debut in the 2001 pilot Shotgun Love Dolls and her Canadian film debut in My Name Is Tanino. Her Hollywood debut came in the comedy The Hot Chick in 2002. She subsequently appeared in the Canadian comedy-drama series Slings & Arrows, earning a Gemini Award for her performance as Kate McNab.

Her breakthrough arrived in 2004 with Mean Girls, in which she played Regina George opposite Lindsay Lohan, Lacey Chabert, and Amanda Seyfried. McAdams originally auditioned for the role of Cady before being cast as Regina, whom she modelled partly on Alec Baldwin's performance in Glengarry Glen Ross. The same year, she starred opposite Ryan Gosling in The Notebook as Allie Hamilton, a role that brought her further recognition and several MTV Movie and Teen Choice Awards.

In 2005, McAdams expanded her range with Wedding Crashers, Red Eye, and The Family Stone. She earned a sailing certificate for Wedding Crashers and played a sardonic sister in The Family Stone, moving beyond the romantic roles associated with her earlier films.

After taking a break from film work in 2006 and 2007, McAdams returned with Married Life and The Lucky Ones. She then played an online reporter in State of Play, Clare Abshire in The Time Traveler's Wife, and Irene Adler in Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes alongside Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law. She followed these roles with the television comedy Morning Glory and Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris.

McAdams continued to work across romantic drama, comedy, thriller, and independent film. Her credits included The Vow, About Time, A Most Wanted Man, and the second Sherlock Holmes film. She also appeared in Terrence Malick's To the Wonder and Brian De Palma's Passion.

In 2015, McAdams played journalist Sacha Pfeiffer in Spotlight, a drama about the investigation into child abuse in the Catholic Church. The film won the Academy Award for Best Picture, and McAdams received Academy Award, Critics' Choice, and Screen Actors Guild nominations for her supporting performance. That year she also played Detective Ani Bezzerides in the second season of HBO's True Detective, earning a Critics' Choice Television Award nomination.

McAdams played Christine Palmer, a former medical colleague of Benedict Cumberbatch's Stephen Strange, in Doctor Strange and reprised the role in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Her later film work included the comedies Game Night and Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, the drama Disobedience, and the family drama Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret., in which she played Barbara Simon.

She made her Broadway debut in 2024 as the title character in Amy Herzog's play Mary Jane. Her performance as a determined caregiver earned her a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Play. McAdams also made a cameo appearance on Saturday Night Live in 2024.

In 2026, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and returned to the big screen in Sam Raimi's survival thriller Send Help, playing Linda Liddle.

McAdams ran the environmental lifestyle website GreenIsSexy.org with two friends from 2007 to 2011. She has supported renewable energy, travelled around Toronto by bicycle, and participated in environmental campaigns concerning rivers, farmland, water sources, and old-growth forests.

She volunteered in Mississippi and Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina and took part in efforts connected with the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. McAdams has also supported the Sunshine Foundation of Canada, the Alzheimer's Association, the READ Campaign, United Way of Canada, Habitat for Humanity, and Represent.Us.