Rachel Anne McAdams

Her breakout role came in 2004 teen comedy Mean Girls, written by Tina Fey. The 25 year-old was cast as teenage Regina George, a malicious queen bee. Mean Girls topped the US box office and was a hit amongst critics who drew comparisons to 1995's Clueless. McAdams herself received favourable reviews, with USA Today praising her "comic flair".
Her second role of 2004 was in The Notebook, a film adaption of Nicholas Sparks' novel. She and Ryan Gosling played a young 1940s couple separated by circumstance. Despite a "treacly" storyline, critics were won over by Gosling and McAdams, with The New York Times remarking, "Their performances are so spontaneous and combustible that you quickly identify with the reckless sweethearts, who embody an innocence that has all but vanished from American teenage life. And against your better judgment, you root for the pair to beat the odds against them." It was a sleeper hit and McAdams was nominated for nearly a dozen awards, mostly at the MTV and Teen Choice Awards. "I'm so grateful to have a film that people respond to in that way," she told Elle magazine in 2011. "It was a big deal".
She starred in three films in 2005. In Wedding Crashers, a highly successful comedy, she played Claire Cleary, the daughter of an influential politician and Owen Wilson's love interest. The New York Times' chief film critic, Manohla Dargis, felt McAdams "makes the most of her underdeveloped character" and "grows more appealing with every new role".
She next appeared opposite Cillian Murphy in Red Eye, a Wes Craven thriller following a young woman held captive aboard a red-eye flight. The film was a box-office hit and won solid reviews. Variety found her "increasingly impressive" while Roger Ebert asserted that "she brings more presence and credibility to her role than is really expected; she acts without betraying the slightest awareness that she’s inside a genre. Her performance qualifies her for heavy-duty roles."