Rachel McAdams can now add "star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame" to her list of accomplishments.
McAdams, an Academy Award- and Tony Award-nominated actress whose illustrious career includes starring roles in beloved films likeMean Girls,The NotebookandSpotlight,received the honor during an emotional ceremony held on Tuesday. The unveiling of McAdams's star took place in Los Angeles, just blocks from the Pantages Theatre, where a musical adaptation ofThe Notebookis being held.
In attendance for McAdams's milestone moment were her partner of 10 years, screenwriter Jamie Linden, actors Dylan O'Brien and Domhnall Gleeson and director Sam Raimi. Gleeson starred with McAdams in the 2013 filmAbout Time, while O'Brien will appear alongside the actress in the forthcoming horror filmSend Help,directed by Raimi.
Following heartfelt speeches from Gleeson and Raimi, McAdams took to the podium, where she shared a few words of her own. TheDoctor Strangeactress thanked her parents for their continued support before paying tribute to a few of the legendary stars who came before her. Among the mentioned stars was the late Diane Keaton, with whom McAdams starred inThe Family Stone.
"My beloved Diane Keaton, who took me under her wing like I was her own daughter," McAdams said. "She taught me that no matter how long you've been doing this, you have to leave everything you've got on the table. Each performance, you must muster up as much love as you possibly can."
Honoring "my own stars down here," McAdams then shifted her gratitude to her family and friends, including Linden and her sister, Kayleen.
"It seems silly to just have my name on here, so I share this little piece of earth with all of you," McAdams said. "To Jamie, my North Star, Kayleen, my other North Star. Thank you for being such a great team in keeping me quasi-normal. I love you all so much. Thank you so much."
McAdams and Linden, the screenwriter of movies includingDear JohnandMoney Monster,have been romantically linked since 2016 and are known to keep their relationship out of the public eye. They share two children, a son born in 2018 and a daughter born in 2020.
During his speech, Gleeson joked about why he doesn't think his former costar deserves a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, before referring to her as "the loveliest person I ever met in my life."
"Rachel, I don't think you deserve this," Gleeson said. "Life, and more importantly, Hollywood, has taught me that you are not supposed to have it all. It is not fair to be everyone's favorite person on set and the best actor in the room. It is selfish of you to be a devoted mother of two, putting family above all else, and a huge movie star continually knocking it out of the park, commercially and artistically."
Gleeson continued, "While joining the icons immortalized in these streets makes this a pretty cool day for Rachel McAdams, if you ask me, this is also a really cool day for the Hollywood Walk of Fame because, as usual, Rachel McAdams is about to rock up and make it better."
Like Gleeson, Raimi gave a similarly quippy but lighthearted tribute to McAdams. TheSpider-Mandirector concluded his speech by telling McAdams, "Congratulations, Rachel. You are so kind and considerate. You're a brilliant collaborator and a good friend, and a real movie star — someone deserving of lighting up this Hollywood Walk of Fame. And you are really deserving of this honor. And we all love you."
Receiving this degree of recognition came as a welcome surprise for the Canadian star. When McAdams's manager, Shelley Browning, initially said that she was recommending her for a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the actress didn't pay it much attention.
"I said, 'Well, I think this is a futile exercise," McAdamsrecalled to Variety. "But it sounds nice, and I'll just take it on the chin and hope I'm not too disappointed when it doesn't come through."
