Rachel Anne McAdams (born November 17, 1978) is a Canadian actress. After graduating from a drama program at York University, she began her acting career in 2001. She made her American feature film debut in 2002's The Hot Chick. 2004 marked a turning point in the actress's career when she starred in the hit films Mean Girls and The Notebook.
She has also starred in such commercially successful films as Wedding Crashers, Red Eye and The Family Stone, all 2005 releases. The same year McAdams took break from acting before shooting her next project, Married Life (2008), in 2006. Since then, she has appeared in other films, such as Guy Ritchie's 2009 Sherlock Holmes as Irene Adler, 2010's Morning Glory, in which she plays the lead, and Woody Allen's 2011 movie Midnight in Paris. Having previously been engaged to former co-star Ryan Gosling, she is now in a relationship with Michael Sheen.
McAdams's next appearance was in Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris, which opened the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.It was given a limited May 20 US release, making nearly $600,000 at just six theaters,leading distributer Sony Pictures Classics to give it a wider release on June 10. She portrays the engaged shallow philistine Inez. When Allen was writing the script, he wrote that part with McAdams in mind after hearing glowing praise about her from Keaton.She said working with Allen was a special experience and different from other films.Upon release, critics lauded Allen's movie. McAdams however, received luke-warm reviews, with one critic saying she had a "truly thankless" role.Instead of playing the female lead again, McAdams will make a cameo appearance in the Sherlock Holmes 2011 sequel.In late 2010, McAdams began filming The Vow alongside Channing Tatum, in which they play the principal parts, in Toronto.Based on the true story of Kim and Krickitt Carpenter, it focuses on a newlywed couple recovering from a car accident that puts the wife in a coma. When she awakes with severe memory loss, her husband tries to win her heart again.It is due out Valentine's Day 2012. Filmmaker Terrence Malick cast the actress in an untitled 2012 romantic drama ensemble piece that features Javier Bardem, Rachel Weisz and reunited her with Affleck.