Rachel 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. Rachel McAdams was nominated for an Oscar in the best supporting actress for her role a Sacha Pfeiffer in The Academy Award winning Spotlight.
She was in Mean Girls as Regina George, but she shot to stardom as Allie in the Notebook.
