Biography And Filmography:

Canadian actress Rachel McAdams was first seen by audiences playing a teen queen in “The Hot Chick” (2004), and then “Mean Girls” (2004). Audiences were amazed by her work in “The Notebook” (2004), and then in the comedy smash hit “Wedding Crashers” (2005) with Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn. The sometimes blonde, sometimes brunette, sometimes pink-haired actress took roles just as spontaneous as her appearance, giving all of them the same style as her flamboyant personal style. 

She was born on Oct. 7, 1978 in London, Ontario and was raised in the town of St. Thomas. By age ten, she was involved in the "Original Kids Theatre Company" in London, appearing in productions of Shakespeare and other classics. She did not plan to be involved in acting after high school graduation in 1997, but started in the Drama program at York University in Toronto. 

She made her first appearance in “The Famous Jett Jackson” (1998) as Hannah, the bulimic older sister of the lead character. She went on to star in several television movies before making her feature film introduction with a role in “My Name is Tanino” (2001), a comedy about a young carefree Italian who chases an American tourist to America after a romantic affair in his hometown. Her breakout role in the Canadian movie “Perfect Pie” (2002) as the best friend of a small town girl who makes it big won her a nomination for a Genie Award.

In 2002, she was hired and cast in a starring role in the movie “The Hot Chick” (2002), a teen summer comedy about a popular teenager who is mean spirited toward others, and finds herself trapped in the body of an older man and must find a way to get back to her original body.

She was then hired and cast in “Mean Girls” (2004) with Lindsay Lohan and Tina Fey, about  a sheltered, home-schooled childhood in Africa, and how she must learn to survive the jungle of "Girl World" at a public high school in Chicago after being accepted by the "Plastics", the three most popular girls in the school. After the success of  “Mean Girls,” she returned to Canadian television playing a young actress in “Slings and Arrows” (2003-05), a comedy about a small town theater company.

Back on the Hollywood movie screen, she appeared in “The Notebook” (2004) with Ryan Gosling, a movie that focuses on an old man reading a story to an old woman in a nursing home. A sentimental and emotional film, "The Notebook" was her breakout performance, and she and co-star Ryan Gosling became couples in real-life, enjoying a  future as one of young Hollywood’s hippest and private young celebrity couples until their breakup in 2007.

She followed with the Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn smash hit comedy "Wedding Crashers" (2005), in a role as the woman who finally gets the shy wedding crasher Owen Wilson's heart. She then took a starring role in the Wes Craven thriller "Red Eye" (2005), playing a clever hotel employee who finds herself trapped on an airline flight with a frightening passenger who terrorizes her. 

The actress next appeared with the ensemble cast of “The Family Stone” (2005) featuring Claire Danes, a dramatic comedy about the oldest son (Dermot Mulroney) of a wild family who brings his bossy New York girlfriend (Sarah Jessica Parker) home for the holidays. She next appeared in the crime drama “Married Life”, starring Pierce Brosnan, a 1940s-set drama where an adulterous man plots his wife's death instead of putting her through the humiliation of a divorce.

She then returned to television with guest appearances in "Slings And Arrows (2006), set in the fictional town of New Burbage, where a legendary theatrical madman Geoffrey Tennant returns to the New Burbage Theatre Festival. 

She next took a starring role next to Tim Robbins in the dramatic comedy "The Lucky Ones" (2008), a story that revolves around three soldiers who return from the Iraq War after suffering injuries and learn that life has moved on without them. She next took the starring role in "The Time Traveler's Wife" (2008), a romantic drama about a Chicago librarian (Eric Bana) with a gene that causes him to involuntarily time travel, and the complications it creates for his marriage. 

She wrapped her year being cast as Della Frye in the crime thriller "State Of Play" (2009), a movie based on the BBC mini-series of the same title about a team of investigative reporters who work alongside a police detective to try to solve the murder of a congressman's mistress.