Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Rachel McAdams Reveals The Massive Hit Films She Passed On In A 2-Year Period: 'I Felt Guilty'

Rachel McAdams
Amanda Edwards/Getty Images

Rachel McAdams revealed that she passed on such hits as 'Iron Man,' 'Casino Royale,' 'M:I3,' and 'Devil Wears Prada' after she took a step back from Hollywood after her meteoric rise.

Rachel McAdams is making the rounds amidst her return to the big screen in the film adaptation of Judy Blume's coming-of-age classic Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.

Of course the talented actor is no stranger to the territory, finding massive success early in her career. McAdams booked her first Hollywood film The Hot Chick less than a year after graduating from York University.


Soon after, the actor stayed incredibly busy working on back-to-back projects—with Mean Girls, Wedding Crashers, The Notebook, Red Eye and The Family Stone all coming out within the span of a couple of years.

McAdams told Bustle her launch into the industry and subsequent immediate success "did feel a little overnight."

And while the Morning Glory star did realize she was incredibly fortunate to find such footing in the competitive industry, she revealed she turned down some quite monumental roles over the course of two years after moving back to Canada to "recenter."

Among those were for films such as Casino Royale, The Devil Wears Prada, Get Smart, Iron Man and Mission: Impossible III.

McAdams admitted sometimes the thinks back and "[wishes she'd] done that," but then said:

"I step back and go, 'That was the right person for that.'"

Of her break, McAdams acknowledged:

"I felt guilty for not capitalizing on the opportunity that I was being given, because I knew I was in such a lucky spot."
"But I also knew it wasn't quite jiving with my personality and what I needed to stay sane."

Many on social media imagined McAdams as the female lead in some of the films she turned down.






But all in all, nobody blamed her for wanting to take a step back for a beat.





McAdams did reveal she had some doubts about her decisions.

"There were definitely some anxious moments of wondering if I was just throwing it all away, and why was I doing that?"
"It's taken years to understand what I intuitively was doing."

You can catch McAdams in her newest role as matriarch Barbara Simon in Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret in theaters beginning April 28.

More from Entertainment/tv-and-movies

Miriam Margolyes
David Levenson/Getty Images

'Harry Potter' Star Miriam Margolyes Offers Mic Drop Explanation For Why Respecting Pronouns Matters

Sometimes it is just that easy to make people happy. This is a lesson learned over and over in our lives, but that's because it's an important one.

Actor Miriam Margolyes shared how she learned to change her behavior to make others happier. Margolyes appeared on The Graham Norton Show recently and brought up a fairly polarizing subject in the United Kingdom: trans people.

Keep ReadingShow less
Elon Musk looks on during a public appearance, as the billionaire once again turns a newsroom style decision into a culture-war grievance broadcast to millions on X.
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images

Elon Musk Cries Racism After Associated Press Explains Why They Capitalize 'Black' But Not 'White'

Elon Musk has spent the year picking fights, from health research funding to imagined productivity crises among federal workers and whether DOGE accomplished anything at all besides leaving chaos in its wake.

His latest grievance, however, is thinly disguised as grammatical. Specifically, he is once again furious that the Associated Press (AP) capitalizes “Black” while keeping “white” lowercase.

Keep ReadingShow less
Elon Musk; Yale University School of Engineering and Applied Science
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images; Plexi Images/GHI/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Elon Musk Gets Brutal Wakeup Call After Claiming That Yale's Lack Of Republican Faculty Is 'Outrageous Bigotry'

Elon Musk—who has repeatedly whined about diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)—took to his social media platform to whine about a lack of conservative faculty at Yale University.

Musk shared data compiled by The Buckley Institute (TBI), a conservative-leaning organization founded at Yale in 2010. TBI found 82.3% of faculty self-identified as Democrats or primarily supporting Democratic candidates, 15% identified as independents, while only 2.3% identified as Republicans.

Keep ReadingShow less
Barry Manilow
Mat Hayward/Getty Images

Barry Manilow Speaks Out After Postponing Farewell Tour Dates Due To Lung Cancer Scare

"Looks Like We Made It" singer Barry Manilow is in the process of saying goodbye to the stage and meeting his fans in-person, but he has to press pause for a few months after receiving a jarring diagnosis.

On December 22, 2025, the "Mandy" singer posted on Facebook, explaining that a "cancerous spot" had been discovered on his left lung.

Keep ReadingShow less
Chris Evans as Steve Rogers in Avengers: Endgame, the last time audiences saw Captain America before his unexpected return was teased for Avengers: Doomsday.
Disney/Marvel Studios

Marvel Just Confirmed That Chris Evans Is Returning For 'Avengers: Doomsday'—And Fans Have Mixed Feelings

Folks, once again, continuity is more of a suggestion than a rule in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Marvel has officially confirmed that Chris Evans is returning as Steve Rogers in Avengers: Doomsday, and the internet has responded exactly how you’d expect: screaming, celebrating, arguing, and a very justified side-eye toward how Sam Wilson keeps getting treated.

The confirmation comes via a teaser now playing exclusively in theaters ahead of Avatar: Fire and Ash. There is no official online release, despite leaks circulating. If you didn’t catch it on the big screen, Marvel’s response is essentially: sorry, guess you had to be there.

Keep ReadingShow less