Rachel Anne McAdams was born on November 17, 1978 in London, Ontario, Canada, to Sandra Kay (Gale), a nurse, and Lance Frederick McAdams, a truck driver and furniture mover. She is of English, Welsh, Irish, and Scottish descent. Rachel became involved with acting as a teenager and by the age of 13 was performing in Shakespearean productions in summer theater camp; she went on to graduate with honors with a BFA degree in Theater from York University. After her debut in an episode of Disney's
The Famous Jett Jackson (1998),
she co-starred in the Canadian TV series
Slings and Arrows (2003), a comedy-drama about the trials and travails of a Shakespearean theater group, and won a Gemini award for her performance in 2003.
Her breakout role as Regina George in the hit comedy
Mean Girls (2004) instantly catapulted her onto the short list of Hollywood's hottest young actresses. She followed that film with a star turn opposite
Ryan Gosling in the adaptation of the
Nicholas Sparks bestseller
The Notebook (2004), which was a surprise box office success and became the predominant romantic drama for a new, young generation of moviegoers. After filming, McAdams and Gosling became romantically involved and dated through mid-2007.
McAdams next showcased her versatility onscreen with the manic comedy
Wedding Crashers (2005), the thriller
Red Eye (2005), and the holiday drama
The Family Stone (2005).
McAdams then explored the independent film world with
Married Life (2007), which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and also starred
Pierce Brosnan,
Chris Cooper and
Patricia Clarkson. Starring roles in the military drama
The Lucky Ones (2008), the newspaper thriller
State of Play (2009), and the romance
The Time Traveler's Wife (2009) followed before she starred
opposite
Robert Downey Jr. and
Jude Law in
Guy Ritchie's international blockbuster
Sherlock Holmes (2009). McAdams played the plucky producer of a failing morning TV show in
Morning Glory (2010), the materialistic fiancée of
Owen Wilson in
Woody Allen's
Midnight in Paris (2011), and returned to romantic drama territory with the hit film
The Vow (2012) opposite
Channing Tatum. The actress also stars with
Ben Affleck in
Terrence Malick's
To the Wonder (2012) and alongside
Noomi Rapace in
Brian De Palma's thriller
Passion (2012).
In 2005, McAdams received ShoWest's "Supporting Actress of the Year" Award as well as the "Breakthrough Actress of the Year" at the
Hollywood Film Awards. In 2009, she was awarded with ShoWest's "Female Star of the Year." As of 2011, she has been romantically linked with her
Midnight in Paris (2011) co-star
Michael Sheen.