Rachel McAdams Reveals Her Favorite Movie of All Time

Rachel McAdams first gained widespread recognition in 2004 with her memorable role in Mean Girls. Playing the popular and influential Regina George, she became a well-known actress alongside Lindsay Lohan and Amanda Seyfried. The film is now a beloved comedy that perfectly captures the challenges and social complexities of high school.

Rachel McAdams went from being a popular student in high school to a leading actress in the hit movie The Notebook, where she starred alongside Ryan Gosling. This role showcased her natural charm and led to other successful romantic films like The Time Traveler’s Wife and Midnight in Paris. She had a gift for making emotional stories feel real and heartfelt, which made her one of the most popular actresses of the 2000s.

Recently, she’s returned to comedy with lively roles in films like Game Night and the offbeat Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga. Many people are curious about the movies that influenced her as a young artist. In a 2007 interview for the book You Gotta See This, she shared her love for the 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, calling it “so weird and such a creepy movie.”

She especially loved the character Veruca Salt, finding her hilariously awful. This movie, the first adaptation of Roald Dahl’s story, is popular worldwide, mainly thanks to Gene Wilder’s unique and fantastic performance. For McAdams, it wasn’t just a fun film—it was a major source of inspiration for her own creative work.

The actress admitted that the spoiled and snobby character Veruca Salt was the ideal starting point for creating her famous on-screen “mean girl” personality. She especially enjoyed portraying the character’s unapologetic sense of privilege and used it to give Regina George a tough and cutting edge. The fact that a movie from 1971 still inspires characters today really shows how much of a lasting impact it’s had.

This year, Rachel McAdams is back in the horror-thriller world with the new film Send Help. Released on January 30th and directed by Sam Raimi, the movie features McAdams as a worker who finds herself stranded on a desert island with her demanding boss, played by Dylan O’Brien. This is the second time McAdams and Raimi have worked together, following their successful collaboration on the Marvel hit Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

The actress is also earning high praise for her theater performances, especially after her Broadway debut in Mary Jane, which earned her a Tony nomination. In the play, she powerfully portrayed a single mother dealing with the challenges of a sick child, showcasing her impressive range as an actress.

Read More

2026-01-30 17:15