Rachel McAdams says she took a two-year hiatus from acting while at the peak of her career to keep her sanity.
“I felt guilty for not taking the opportunity that was given to me, knowing I was in a very lucky spot,” the 44-year-old actress said about her decision to take a break from the film industry in a new interview with Bustle. .
“But I also knew it didn’t quite match my personality and what I needed to stay sane.”
McAdams explained that there is no guide on how to deal with the “overnight” fame he felt after starring in “Mean Girls” and “The Notebook,” both of which premiered in 2004.
“You don’t go to theater school to learn how to deal with this. “There is no book on how to navigate this.”
While the Canadian actress quickly found success in Hollywood, she moved back to Toronto, where she spent her time cycling around the city, hanging out with her family, and re-centring herself.
During this time, McAdams gave up major roles in movies like “The Devil Wears Prada”, “Casino Royale”, “Mission: Impossible III”, “Iron Man” and “Get Smart”.
McAdams admitted that he sometimes questioned whether he had made a mistake.
“There were definitely some anxious moments where I wondered if I was throwing everything away and why was I doing that?” Confessed. “It took years to intuitively understand what I was doing.”
Still, there are moments today when McAdams regrets turning over some of those important movie roles.
“There’s definitely things like, ‘I wish I had done this,'” he said.
However, McAdams knows that the movie craze has a method, and he believes that the women in the roles transferred to him are the right choice.
“I take a step back and say, ‘This was the right person for this,'” she said.
McAdams also explained that her break from acting allowed her to “feel strong”.
For more Bottoms of the Page you love…
“I think there was always a feeling that it would be okay; it will either work or it won’t,” McAdams said. “It helped me feel like I was taking back some control. And I guess it let me come from a different doorway.
Just like her acting career, the “Family Stone” star also came to terms with her own body.
McAdams posed for a photoshoot with Bustle where she proudly showcases her armpit hair while posing in sexy outfits.
“I’m wearing latex underwear for this shoot. But I had two children,” she told the magazine. “This is my body, and I think it’s very important to reflect that back to the world.”
McAdams shares a 5-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter with his longtime partner Jamie Linden, 42.
As for her latest acting project, McAdams is credited with Judy Blume’s hit book “Are You There God? It’s me, Margaret.”