The list of iconic roles actress Rachel McAdams has absolutely slayed over the years is endless, but what if Regina George wore Prada on Wednesdays instead of pink? If The Notebook‘s Allie Hamilton was an MI6 agent instead of a wartime nurse?
It’s a case of what could have been, with the former Hollywood It Girl spilling that she turned down a slew of gigs in some cult-fave films and baby, what is you doing?
Turns out, like all of us workaholics who battle with burnout, gal pal needed a break.
In a recent interview with Bustle in promotion of her latest flick, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, McAdams revealed her mental health took a hit off the back of Mean Girls and The Notebook‘s success in 2004, She took two-year acting hiatus and moved back to her home country of Canada for a lil’ break.
Still, the time away from Hollywood didn’t stop the 44-year-old from feeling “guilty for not capitalising on the opportunity” she’d been handed.
“Because I knew I was in such a lucky spot,” she confessed. “But I also knew it wasn’t quite jiving with my personality and what I needed to stay sane.
“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.”
During that time, she was offered parts in Casino Royale, Mission Impossible III, Get Smart, Iron Man and The Devil Wears Prada, all of which hit the silver screen between 2006 and 2008. Absolutely ‘yuge films at the time for cinema.
Casino Royale kicked off Daniel Craig‘s tenure as James Bond, and Iron Man, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Goop queen Gwenyth Paltrow, launched the wildly successful Marvel Cinematic Universe. McAdams later joined the MCU in 2016’s Doctor Strange.
She isn’t immune to the disease of What If, however.
“There’s certainly things like, ‘I wish I’d done that’,” McAdams said. “I step back and go, ‘that was the right person for that.’”
Of course, we stan a girlie prioritising self-care, but we can’t help but fangirl over a world in which The Devil Wears Prada‘s Andy Sachs had a bit of Regina George flair.
It would’ve been truly groundbreaking stuff.
