The first time I met Rachel McAdams we were in the garden amphitheatre at Alma College in St. Thomas, Ontario. I can’t remember exactly how old I was, but it was at least 15 years ago. It was the first day of the Original Kids Theatre Camp, a prestigious young people’s theatre company that held a recruitment camp every year in the summer. Divided into groups by age we were doing Shakespeare in the garden – Julius Caesar. Despite the fact that I am naturally good in front of people I had the most horrible stage fright as a child and, understandably, had only one line.
I can honestly say that I have no earthly idea why they let me into the full time, year round theatre company, but I knew instantly why they let Rachel in: she was really, really good. We did a show called Juvie together about a bunch of kids in juvenile hall for a night. I was by far the youngest and most inexperienced of that cast, but I remember a few of them taking me under their wings, trying to coax out of me any kind of performance at all.
Rachel went to the most fantastic high school – Central – in St. Thomas and together with some very talented people (Anne and Andrew, I’m looking at you) and led by two genuinely fantastic teachers, Central went on to be brilliant in the Sears festivals, winning at several levels of competition. My personal favorite of all their shows being ‘I Live in a Little Town’ a show written by the students about their experiences of being from a small town. Going back 15 years this remains one of my favorite memories from that time in my life.
I still remember the last day I saw Rachel. I had enrolled at Central during a particularly confusing time in my parents’ divorce and I ran in to her in the hall after coming from the Office. I explained what I was doing there and she said she was looking forward to seeing me in the fall. Always kind, that’s the thing I remember most about her.
The next time I saw her was when I was sitting in a movie theatre screwing up my face trying to figure out why that blonde girl in the Mean Girls preview looked so familiar. With her beautiful, slightly curly brown hair hidden under a blonde wig it took me a few weeks to figure it out – which happened one day while I was sitting on the couch and started screaming at the television “Andy! That’s Rachel! Omigod! That’s Rachel!” (at which my husband was mighty confused having never heard of this person before, which then led to my running to get a photo album to show him the pictures that proved it. Poor man.)
Since then I have followed Rachel’s career with great care. From the inevitable girly movies like The Hot Chick to the career starter Mean Girls, to the horror to get you noticed of Red Eye and the tear jerker that gets played over and over again on Diva on Sunday afternoons of The Notebook, I’ve watched them all. Rachel continues to prove that’s she not a one hit wonder, choosing roles carefully and standing her ground in high profile dramas like State of Play and blockbusters like Sherlock Holmes. She seems to choose roles that can genuinely let her grow as an actor and that’s something I find so rare in Hollywood these days. And there is certainly no question that she’s making her way towards being Hollywood’s darling.
I saw the trailer for The Time Traveler’s Wife on the weekend and it’s the most “Rachel” I’ve ever seen her on screen. It reminded me of the kind, pretty, lovely and talented girl I used to know. By all accounts she retains much of the person she was then, a delight to work with and nowhere near the primadonna that some of her counterparts have become. She can still be spotted around Toronto, just going about her business. She even takes the TTC. Just a regular girl leading an awesome life.
And that’s why she’s the Weekly Awesome.
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