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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.

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