Top 3 Darkest Rachel McAdams Performances

Rachel McAdams received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on January 20, 2026, in the Motion Picture category. As an actor, she has portrayed a range of personalities that have significantly captured her audience’s attention. McAdams is known for her magnetic smile and iconic roles, and she has also taken her acting to dark, intense places. With her new film, Send Help (directed by Sam Raimi and also starring Dylan O’ Brien), releasing on January 30, it’s a great time to discuss these performances. These are my personal choices for Rachel McAdams’ Top 3 Darkest and Most Intense Roles in her career so far.

3. Mean Girls

Everyone and their mother know exactly who you are talking about when you say “Regina George.” You can close your eyes and see the big blonde hair that is “full of secrets,” and the calm and cool demeanor McAdams delivers with every line. Mean Girls became one of the most iconic films of her career, known for hilarious quotes, fun early-2000s fashion, and bitchy banter.

You may not stop to think about the intensity of the character behind Regina George. We have all walked alongside our own “Regina George” at some point in our lives, and I’m sure it can be agreed upon that it is an intimidating and unsettling feeling. Those who interact with Regina admire her, but in fear. She is strategically cruel and calculating in her exchanges and constantly plots her next step. She delivers the harshest insults with the biggest smile and dead eyes. There is always something off-putting about receiving a harsh remark from someone who says it with a smile. I truly believe that if anyone aside from McAdams had played Regina, her tyranny would not have been as believable, and her rise after her downfall would not have been as admirable. The shift in her cruel persona is one that goes from polished sociopath to helpless and vulnerable young woman. The dark turn in tone once she is hit by the bus is a brave choice in an otherwise mostly unserious story. Being cruel was easy for Regina, but taking out her anger and taking a look at herself in the mirror was not. This memorable role paved the way for Rachel McAdams’s promising career.