Oscar Wild
The highs and lows on Rachel McAdams’ road to Hollywood royalty
Her turn in The Time Traveler’s Wife has earned Toronto darling Rachel McAdams the ultimate acting coup: Oscar buzz. She’s come a long way from flipping burgers at McDonald’s. We assess the real-life moments that brought her closer to (or farther from) the golden guy.
Humble beginnings are practically a pre-req for bona fide stardom. Her truck driver dad and the aforementioned McD’s stint give her a major head start.
Plays a bitchy beauty in The Hot Chick, a straight-to-stink-bomb release by SNL alum Rob Schneider. Safe to say Oscar isn’t interested.
Plays soulless but spectacular queen bee in Mean Girls. Turns out Tina Fey, the movie’s scribe and ex-SNLer, is a better bet than Rob Schneider.
Meets Ryan Gosling (the Tim Robbins to her Susan Sarandon) on the set of The Notebook, a perfectly respectable tear jerker.
Blessing in disguise alert! Gets passed over for the role of Susan Storm in The Fantastic Four. The part goes to Jessica “ain’t never gonna see an Oscar” Alba.
Wins three MTV Movie Awards. Oscar gals Gwyneth Paltrow, Julia Roberts and Nicole Kidman have also taken home golden popcorn trophies.
After the schmaltzy Notebook, our leading lady wants to do something different. And she does. Despite its genre, Red Eye fails to thrill audiences.
Says no to a nudie cover shoot for Vanity Fair. We respect her gumption, but going bare booty hasn’t hurt sexy thespies Keira and Scarlett.
Did you see Married Life? Neither did we. If only the Academy handed out hardware for worst dye job.
Cast opposite Hollywood’s comeback king Robert Downey Jr. in the new Sherlock Holmes movie. Another shot at Oscar awaits.
Photographs: McAdams (top and MTV awards) from WireImage
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