Rachel McAdams turned down ‘Iron Man,’ ‘Casino Royale’ roles for this reason https://ift.tt/i2ZVvRl

Rachel McAdams felt "guilty" for turning down roles in big-name films after her success in "The Notebook" and "Mean Girls."

McAdams, 44, opened up about her fame and the breaks she has taken from Hollywood while promoting her upcoming film "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret."

The actress turned down huge industry successes throughout a two-year pause in her career including "The Devil Wears Prada," "Casino Royale," "Iron Man," "Get Smart" and "Mission: Impossible III."

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"There’s certainly things like ‘I wish I’d done that,'" she told Bustle in a new interview.

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"I step back and go, ‘That was the right person for that.’"

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Despite believing she made the right decision, McAdams revealed she "felt guilty" for passing on the roles.

"I felt guilty for not capitalizing on the opportunity that I was being given, because I knew I was in such a lucky spot," she explained. "But I also knew it wasn't quite jiving with my personality and what I needed to stay sane." 

"There were definitely some anxious moments of wondering if I was just throwing it all away, and why was I doing that? It’s taken years to understand what I intuitively was doing," she noted.

McAdams grew up in Canada and eventually attended the four-year theater program at York University. After graduating in 2001, the actress landed her break out role in "Mean Girls" just a few years later.

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She went on to star in cult classics including "The Notebook" and "Wedding Crashers."

McAdams has also appeared in "Sherlock Holmes," "The Time Traveler's Wife" and "Doctor Strange."

"It did feel a little overnight," McAdams told Bustle about her rapid ascent to a Hollywood A-list star.

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McAdams sister says the actress has always been able to prioritize her own wants.

"[Rachel is] very confident in what she believes and being able to align with her inner compass," Kayleen McAdams told the outlet. "There can be moments when you do things that you might not be ready for. You take a job that isn’t exactly right for you because you’re feeling those external pressures." 

"Rachel has such a strong internal sense of self and a really strong belief that the world will work out as it should."