Shakespeare. I mean, I sort of always had an inkling towards some kind of an art form. I grew up in a very small town, and I just figure-skated. My dad played hockey and I was surrounded by sports, but it wasn’t quite doing it for me. I wasn’t totally fulfilled, and I did a lot of skating, I was very intense about it for a long time, and tried art and that really didn’t work for me. I can’t sing so eventually I hooked onto some Shakespeare when I was about 12.
When you saw the script for “Mean Girls” and saw how that character was written, was it something that made you rub your hands together with glee?
I did eventually. At first I was actually auditioning for Lindsay Lohan’s role. I had concerns, because I had done “The Hot Chick,” about playing that head cheerleader/popular girl that’s just mean to everyone because she feels like it. But I realized that there was far more room to be a sociopath with Regina, and to be a bit of a nightmare. There was the getting hit by the bus and gaining all this weight. There were so many great little gimmicks involved that I just couldn’t pass up.
With “The Notebook,” is topless painting a habit you’ll continue?
It was a very freeing experience, yes. That was an interesting choice. I haven’t picked up a brush since, but I won’t rule it out as a possibility.
How long did that scene take and was it warm or cold?
Well, Robert was lovely enough to put me in some actual sunlight, the DP
Robert Fraisse, put me on this big, beautiful veranda. I mean, you can’t see it but it stretches on forever at this old plantation house. I had an expanse of trees and nature out there and it just seemed appropriate.
You auditioned with Ryan Gosling, right? What was that process like?
We auditioned together, yes, and that was impressive to me when Lynn Harris, the producer, told me that Ryan and Nick had been on a tour of the country looking for Allie Hamilton. That impressed me, first, when I talked to her, and then to go in… They were both very open and, “No pressure, we’ll just take it slow.” They were really tough scenes and we just went from there. It was great to have him there.
What was your initial reaction to the material?
Weeping and sobbing uncontrollably.
Were you familiar with the book?
I wasn’t familiar with the book. I read the script and went into the audition the next day. I think I was so full of that emotion, of the love story, and I believed in it so much, when I went in there that it just sort of translated.
How do you keep something like this fresh or new for modern audiences?
It’s very simplistic. I think love is the through line and it’s universal and it doesn’t matter what period of time, time or place, or people, that’s something we all connect to. That’s the thin thread that I think keeps it altogether.
How difficult was that rain scene?
I’ll be honest, I love that it looks great and it’s very romantic because we went through a lot to get that, and it was totally worth it. When I see myself jump in the water, I just get chills. At the same time, I’m so glad we did it. We did lots of takes on it [in the] pelting rain. It was coming out of a fire-hose, being sandblasted, and Nick said to me, “Try to keep your eyes open when you say, ‘You wrote me?’” And it’s pelting, it’s actually hurting my eyes. All those elements of stuff add to a performance in a weird way.
At the end I almost liked it. We shot the carnival scene at the very end, and you just get sort of immune to the situations.
PAGE 3: Rachel McAdams on Southern Culture, Shakespeare, and Bargain Shopping
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