Rachel McAdams Felt ‘Guilty’ Taking A 2-Year Break From Acting
Rachel McAdams is reflecting on her decision to take a break from acting for two years. In a new interview with Bustle, McAdams said of pausing her career, “I guess I always had a sense that it would be OK. Either it’s going to work out, or it’s not.”
Rachel McAdams returns for the long-awaited, totally adorable adaptation of #ItsMeMargaret.
— Bustle (@bustle) April 18, 2023
Below, Bustle’s April cover star speaks to @_sleach about @margaretmovie, taking breaks from acting, and her aesthetic sensibilities. https://t.co/cyBc43kvvo
McAdams, 44, has taken time off from acting in the past. She did not appear in any films in 2006 or 2019. Her upcoming film, Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret marks her third feature film since 2020’s Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga. The breaks from acting “really helped me feel empowered,” the Mean Girls alum told the publication. “It helped me feel like I was taking back some control. And I think it sort of allowed me to come in from a different doorway.”
Guilty, But No Regrets
She did not feel entirely confident her break was the right decision after her success in 2004’s Mean Girls. Rachel turned down parts in big movies like The Devil Wears Prada, Casino Royale, Mission: Impossible III, Iron Man, and Get Smart. The Canadian actress felt “anxious” about her decision, wondering if she was “just throwing it all away.” She admits, “It’s taken years to understand what I intuitively was doing.”
Despite feeling “guilty for not capitalizing on the opportunity” she was being given, the Notebook star knew “it wasn’t quite jiving with my personality and what I needed to stay sane.” Stepping back, the actors who ultimately took on those movies were “the right person for that,” she said.
Rachel will next be seen in Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, out in theaters on April 28. Based on the Judy Blume coming-of-age novel of the same name, it follows sixth-grader Margaret Simon as her family moves from New York City to the suburbs of New Jersey. Margaret, whose parents are Christian and Jewish, has been raised without an affiliation to one faith and thus goes on a quest to explore her religious identity. Watch the trailer below:
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