Rachel McAdams’ Horse Allergy Almost Cost Her a Major Movie Role
The gorgeous Rachel McAdams is one of the most well-known faces in Hollywood today. She’s not only beautiful; she’s more than proved her acting chops by starring in wide-ranging genres of films, from comedies alongside Will Ferrell to her notorious, tear-jerking romance with Ryan Gosling.
It turns out that it’s taken even more than immense beauty and talent for McAdams to get to where she is today; it’s also taken a whole lot of gumption and drive. So much drive, in fact, that she’s even lied to a director just to get a part.
What are Rachel McAdams’ most famous roles?
McAdams has come such a long way since the days when she was most known for her roles on Mean Girls and The Notebook that it’s hard to pinpoint what role, exactly, she’s most famous for.
Before these two roles, which made her a household name, she got her breakthrough starring alongside comedian Rob Schneider in Hot Chick. She was so outrageously funny in this role that it’s even more impressive to see what a multifaceted actor she’s become since then.
Some of her most famous films since The Notebook have been Midnight in Paris, Sherlock Holmes, The Time Traveler’s Wife, and About Time. She’s recently been seen in Netflix’s Will Ferrell comedy, Eurovision. She’s even had a part in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Dr. Strange’s love interest Christine Palmer. It’s clear that McAdams is much more than just a rom-com star, and her Oscar nomination proves that.
Rachel McAdams lied to a director to get a part
In 2012, McAdams was already a superstar, with both Mean Girls and The Notebook behind her along with other legendary films like Wedding Crashers. She likely had directors scrambling to work with her, but she wanted to make sure she cinched the deal when she was auditioning for To The Wonder, directed by the legendary Terrence Malick.
According to Vocal, McAdams was so determined to work with Malick that she lied to get the part. Her character in the film is a horse-wrangler, and so naturally, the famous director asked her how she felt about working with horses.
McAdams actually has a pretty severe horse hair allergy, but she lied about that and told him she’d love to work with horses, just to get the part. In fact, she’s not only allergic to horses but quite afraid of them, too; she once told The Guardian: “I’m very intimidated by them, because they seem to have such a soul. It’s almost like they can read your thoughts.”
She wanted the part so badly that she got over her fear, popped some antibiotics, and nailed the role. Now that’s gumption!
Rachel McAdams has always been a hard worker
Gumption is not something that’s new to McAdams; —she’s always had to work hard for what she’s got. She was born in Canada to a nurse and a truck driver, and only her drive (and, of course, immense talent) earned her the success she finally found when she was in her mid-20s. She’d worked hard toward that goal for most of her life since she was first bitten by the acting bug when she was only 12 years old.
She once told The New York Times that she became obsessed with acting after seeing a production by the local children’s theater. “I told my mother that I had to be in it, that I would die if I wasn’t,” she said at the time.
Her parents gave in, and she ended up becoming so dedicated to the craft that she even received a college degree in acting before she went on to become the Hollywood star that she is today.
