(January 31, 2016 – Los Angeles, CA) Actors Mark Ruffalo and Rachel McAdams, winners of the Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture award for Spotlight, pose backstage last night at The 22nd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at The Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California.
This isn’t the first awards recognition for Rachel McAdams. She performed with the Original Kids Theatre when she was still a teenager and was involved in her high school’s drama program, winning an acting award in 1995. Despite this she never seriously considered acting as a possible career path. Intending to study cultural studies, it wasn’t until a drama teacher encouraged her to pursue drama that she changed her mind. Upon completion of high school she attended York University in Toronto, eventually graduating with an Honours degree in theatre.
Unlike many actors who struggle to get their careers started, her career took off immediately after her graduation. Her very first major role came in 2001 when she appeared on an episode of Disney’s The Famous Jett Jackson as the bulimic older sister of one of the main characters. She was also cast in a lead role of an MTV series entitled Shotgun Love Dolls about an ordinary teenager who suddenly finds herself in a fantasy world where she’s the leader of a fantastical crime-fighting unit. The pilot for Shotgun Love Dolls never aired.
At 2005’s MTV Movie Awards McAdams’ status as Hollywood’s newest It Girl was cemented when she received a record five nominations, for Mean Girls and The Notebook combined. She went on to win three of the five including the award for “Breakthrough Female.” The 2004 and 2005 Teen Choice Awards were similarly charmed by Rachel, nominating her ten times and awarding her four.
