Rachel McAdams reflects on why she's taken breaks from acting
Rachel McAdams is opening up about taking time away from acting and some of the roles she says she turned down in the process.
The actress, who rose to fame for hits like "Mean Girls" and "The Notebook," is now about to star in the film adaptation of the Judy Blume classic, "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret," as Margaret's mother, Barb.
In an interview with Bustle, published Tuesday, the actress said that because of her hiatuses from the spotlight, at one point taking a two-year break, she "felt guilty for not capitalizing on the opportunity that I was being given, because I knew I was in such a lucky spot."
According to the outlet, the actress claimed she turned down roles in films like "The Devil Wears Prada," "Casino Royale," "Mission: Impossible III," "Iron Man" and "Get Smart" during her time away from the big screen.
"I felt guilty for not capitalizing on the opportunity that I was being given, because I knew I was in such a lucky spot," she told the outlet. However, she said she knew that some of those opportunities, at the time, weren't "jiving" with her personality and what she "needed to stay sane."
"There were definitely some anxious moments of wondering if I was just throwing it all away, and why I was doing that?" McAdams said. "It's taken years to understand what I intuitively was doing."
"There's certainly things like 'I wish I'd done that,'" she added. "I step back and go, 'That was the right person for that.'"
These days, McAdams, who is the mother of a son and daughter that she shares with partner Jamie Linden, is still prioritizing family even while working on projects. During filming for "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret," the actress' sister, Kayleen McAdams, was her on-set makeup artist.
Kayleen McAdams told Bustle that she and her sister rented houses next door to each other during production.
"Our [eldest children] are best friends, and our two younger ones are three months apart, so they're super close as well," she said. "Then Rachel and I get to be best friends that go off to work [while] they play every day."
She added that she and her celebrity sibling were both nursing while "Margaret" was being filmed, so they'd sneak off when McAdams had breaks, have a snack, and pump together.
"Then she would go into this setting where she was parenting a pre-teen daughter [on set]. It's funny to live that life and also be looking into your future," Kayleen McAdams said.
