It’s easy to forget just how unexpected Rachel McAdams’ Hollywood breakthrough was. Before she was synonymous with some of her best roles, like The Notebook (one of the best romantic films), she was a relative newcomer, finding her footing in broad studio comedies. One of her earliest big-screen moments was a scene in a raunchy body-swap comedy where she had to strip down in a bright pink bikini. Now, she’s looking back on that experience and opening up about feeling both terrified and exhilarated in her first major Hollywood role.
While sitting down with Variety, McAdams reflected on her path from early comedy gigs to awards recognition and, most recently, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Along the way, she revisited her first studio film, The Hot Chick (streaming with a Hulu subscription), and a moment that pushed her well outside her comfort zone right from the start. As McAdams recalled:
I was both petrified and exhilarated by it. I was standing backstage in greasy overalls with a hot pink bikini, knowing I was going to go out there and strip as a man in front of all of my new peers in my first Hollywood movie.
At the time, McAdams wasplaying a high school mean girl whose body is magically swapped with an adult man, played by Rob Schneider. The role demanded not just physical comedy but an unusual level of vulnerability for someone new to big studio sets. One moment, in particular, stands out decades later. The Marvel alum continued:
I will never forget hearing the beat of the music starting and thinking it was a great acting challenge. I just took a deep breath and told myself: Life is short, just go for it.
That willingness to commit fully helps explain why McAdams made such a strong early impression. In The Hot Chick, she manages to be broad, fearless, and surprisingly grounded, even as the premise veers into absurdity. It’s also the role that helped put her on Hollywood’s radar, setting the stage for bigger roles in Mean Girls and then superstardom in The Notebook.
McAdams originally trained for the stage and fully expected her career to unfold in theater, viewing Los Angeles as a distant and unlikely destination. When she landed Hot Chick, she assumed she had little to lose, and that lack of expectation may have given her the freedom to take risks other young actors might shy away from. She added:
I was very happy to explore the theater scene in Toronto, which is rich and robust… When anybody would say anything about New York or L.A., I laughed it off, either out of insecurity or lack of imagination.
Decades later, Rachel McAdams’ filmography speaks for itself. She’s moved seamlessly between comedy, romance, drama and genre work, earning both audience affection and critical respect along the way. It’s telling, though, that one of the moments she still remembers most clearly is also one of her most vulnerable.
And, while the Wedding Crashers star has hardly slowed down since The Hot Chick hit theaters in 2002, it’s been a while since audiences have seen her in a full-fledged thriller. That’s about to change. She’s set to return to the genre in Sam Raimi’s Send Help, which is slated to hit theaters on January 30 as part of the 2026 movie schedule.
