Home > Other > Rachel in 2015: A Year In Review

It’s time for our annual year review post. We will give you a summary and review of Rachel’s career in 2015. It’s been a busy year with the theatrical release of “Aloha“, “Southpaw“, “Spotlight” and “Every Thing Will Be Fine“. “True Detective” also aired this year on HBO and “The Little Prince” premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. Rachel also begun filming “Doctor Strange“, which will be released next year.

Read our full review after the jump/inside.

2015 began with the announcement that “Every Thing Will Be Fine” was selected for the 65th Berlinale Film Festival (out of competition) with the announcement the first production stills of the movie were also released. The beginning of 2015 also brought us the first official production still of “Spotlight” and the title of “Aloha” was confirmed. The latter movie was delayed from a 2014 to a 2015 release.

The first trailer for “Aloha” arrived before it’s Spring 2015 release. The first footage of “Every Thing Will Be Fine” was also released in February, while the first trailer of “Southpaw” was released late March. “True Detective” continued to film in the Los Angeles area early 2015 after it’s 2014-2015 winterbreak. The cast was spotted filming in February, March and April on various dates. The first teaser trailer for the series arrived in April, ahead of it’s summer 2015 release.

The first production stills of “Aloha“ and “Southpaw“ were released in the first half of 2015 before the summer 2015 release of both movies. “True Detective” wrapped up filming early May and the first key-art was released.

Rachel graced Marie Claire’s (USA) June 2015 edition to promote her (upcoming) projects, including “True Detective“. “The Little Prince” was selected for the Cannes Film Festival (out of competition) and the international voice cast was in attendance of the world premiere and the movie got a lot of positive buzz after it’s premiere.

Rachel attended a special screening for “Aloha” late May alongside her co-stars Emma Stone & Danielle Rose Russell and writer/director Cameron Crowe. While the movie was not very well received, Rachel still received praise for her performance as Tracy Woodside. The promotion for “Southpaw” kicked-off early. Rachel presented the Guy Con Award at the Spike TV’s Guys Choice Awards to her co-star Jake Gyllenhaal in June.

Rachel had a busy summer with multiple projects getting released. She attended a press conference for “True Detective” alongside her co-stars Taylor Kitsch and Vince Vaughn in June. Rachel received praise for her performance as Ani Bezzerides. The second season was, however, not as critical acclaimed as the first. The season two premiere for the series was on June 21st. The season two premiere brought in it’s second second largest audience to date with about 3.2 million.

“Southpaw” had it’s world premiere during the Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) in June and Rachel’s co-star Jake Gyllenhaal received acclaim for his performance. Meanwhile Rachel flew back to Canada to attend the Toast The Coast Vancouver alongside Jane Fonda. The event was hosted to celebrate Canada’s coastline and raising awareness of the environmental issues surrounding oil drilling and pipelines. Rachel continued to show her support for the Toast The Coast movement by joining Greenpeace’s campaign to support the cause of Arctic protection.

Rachel and her co-star Jake Gyllenhaal attended the Canadian premiere for their movie “Southpaw” in July. They both headed to Los Angeles to promote the movie before it’s theatrical release in the U.S.A. First up was a special screening in LA hosted by ESPN. The cast and crew also attended a screening hosted by SAG Foundation which was followed by a Q&A. The cast also attended a press conference in LA and sat down for several press junket interviews.

Rachel and Jake Gyllenhaal continued to promote the movie by attending the 2015 ESPYS Awards. Rachel alongside her co-stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Oona Laurence and director Antoine Fuqua attended another Q&A panel for the movie hosted by the Academy.

The “Southpaw” cast and crew flew to New York to continue to promote the movie. Rachel attended the New York premiere of the movie alongside her co-stars Jake Gyllenhaal, 50 Cent, Oona Laurence, Miguel Gomez and Naomie Harris. The following day Rachel, Jake Gyllenhaal and Oona Laurence attended another Q&A panel hosted by the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Rachel wrapped up her press tour for the movie by making an appearance on Good Morning America, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Popcorn with Peter Travers. She also promoted the upcoming series finale of “True Detective” at both shows. “Southpaw” was released on July 24 in the U.S. and the critics praised the cast for their performance in the movie. Rachel also graced the cover of Stylist UK.

Wrapping up her busy summer the 90-minutes “True Detective” season two finale aired on August 9. In late July it was announced that “Spotlight” was selected for the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival. The movie had it’s world premiere screening at the Venice Film Festival and received critical acclaim after it’s first screenings. The first trailer, a new production still and first poster key-art were also released.

While Rachel was unable to attend the Venice Film Festival premiere, she did attend the Telluride Film Festival to promote “Spotlight“. She also attended the Elks Park Seminar at the festival alongside her co-star Michael Keaton and director Tom McCarthy. Other panelist were directors Sarah Gavron and Laszlo Nemes, and actors Meryl Streep and Geza Rohrig.

It was announced that “Every Thing Will Be Fine” was also selected for the Toronto International Film Festival, after it’s Berlinale premiere earlier this year. IFC Films picked up the U.S.A. distribution rights ahead of it’s TIFF festival premiere. The movie was released on December 4 in selected theaters and on Video On Demand. Additionally it was announced that was set to join Writer/Director Jason Reitman’s annual TIFF live read.

Rachel kicked off her Toronto International Film Festival duties in September by attending the premiere of “Every Thing Will Be Fine” alongside her co-stars Julia Sarah Stone and Robert Naylor and director Wim Wenders. This was followed by her attending Jason Reitman’s Live Read of “The Princess Bride”. Rachel read the role of Buttercup, which was originated by Robin Wright. Additionally she read the part of Valerie.

The cast, crew and (former) Boston Globe reports all attended the TIFF premiere of “Spotlight“. Rachel posed on the red carpet with Sacha Pfeiffer, who she portrays in the movie. Additionally Rachel also attended Variety Fandango Studio and sat down for a few press junket interviews. The cast and crew also posed together for various portrait sessions during the festival, including for the LA Times and Deadline.

During the Toronto International Film Festival Rachel confirmed her involvement in “Doctor Strange“. It was reported early July that Rachel was offered the female lead in Marvel’s upcoming “Doctor Strange” movie. Rachel confirmed the reports herself in July to the Los Angeles Times but mentioned “it’s still super-early days”. After Rachel confirmed her involvement Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige revealed details about Rachel’s role. Principal photography began for “Doctor Strange” early November in London and the cast of the movie was confirmed late November. Even more character details were revealed late December by Entertainment Weekly.

“Spotlight” opened in selected theaters on November 6 before expanding nationwide on November 20. The movie has received critical acclaim and is currently Rachel’s highest rated movie on Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritics. The movie is also a major contender for award season and was selected for a lot of fall film festivals. The movie, cast and crew already received several accolades, including the Gotham Jury Award. Rachel and her co-stars Michael Keaton and Mark Ruffalo all received the 2016 American Riviera Award at the 31st Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

Rachel attended the ATP World Finals 2015 in London late November alongside her friend. Rachel travelled back to New York to attend the 25th Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards. The “Spotlight” received the Jury Award and also won Best Feature and Best Screenplay. Rachel and Sacha Pfeiffer also stopped by the Today Show to promote the movie. After her “Spotlight” promotion duties Rachel headed back to Canada to make an appearance at the 31st Anniversary of CIBC Miracle Day in Toronto.

“Spotlight” continued to received critical and award season acclaim. The cast and crew are set to receive the Robert Altman Award at the 31st Film Independent Spirit Awards. The movie also won several awards at various critics awards, including at the New York, Los Angeles and Boston critics’ awards. Rachel herself also received two SAG nominations and three Critics’ Choice Awards nominations. The movie also received three Golden Globes nominations, including for Best Picture.

Rachel graced the cover of The Wrap’s Oscar Feature alongside co-stars Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Liev Schreiber, John Slattery and Brian d’Arcy James alongside the (former) Boston Globe journalists Walter Robinson, Mike Rezendes, Marty Baron, Ben Bradlee Jr. and Matt Carroll to promote “Spotlight“.

Meanwhile, this year also brought us the 10 Year Anniversary of three of Rachel’s movies: “Wedding Crashers“, “Red Eye“ and “The Family Stone“. The movies were released on July 15, 2005; August 19, 2005 and December 16, 2005 respectively. It was also the 10 Year Anniversary of Rachel’s last appearance as Kate McNab in “Slings & Arrows“. The episode, titled ‘Season’s End’, aired on June 27, 2005 in Canada.

Fun fact: Rachel broke a personal record this year with the theatrical release of 4 movies (“Aloha“, “Southpaw“, “Spotlight” and “Every Thing Will Be Fine“), which are all eligible for the upcoming Oscars. Additionally, “True Detective” also aired and “The Little Prince” premiered at Cannes. The latter will have it’s theatrical release in the U.S.A. in 2016.

Finally, we would like to highlight the causes Rachel has supported this year. Rachel joined Greenpeace for their #ShellNo movement. For more information be sure to head over to the official Greanpeace website. Rachel also supported the Serenity House Hospice by donating a handbag earlier this year. Rachel also supported the Nanny Angel Network at the CIBC Miracle Day.

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Favorites of 2015

Here are our favorites of this year, do you agree with them or not? If you have other favorite or additions be sure to comment below.

Best Red Carpet Look
Rob Zangardi and Mariel Haenn continue to create the most amazing and diverse red carpet looks for Rachel. While we loved all Rachel’s red carpet looks during TIFF, we think our favorite is for the “Spotlight” premiere.

Best News
The best news has to be the critical acclaim for Rachel’s work this year, and more specifically the acclaim for “Spotlight“. While Rachel’s other projects (“Aloha“, “Southpaw” and “True Detective“) didn’t receive as much acclaim as “Spotlight” there was a general consensus that Rachel’s performance was good in all of them. Additionally we have to give a honorable mention to Rachel getting cast in Marvel’s “Doctor Strange“.

Photoshoot
The “Spotlight” (film festival) promotion brought us many great new photoshoots, but our favorite photoshoot was Rachel’s Marie Claire cover photoshoot. Fun fact: Rachel’s sister Kayleen McAdams did her make-up for this shoot.

Best Interview(s)
One of our favorite interviews has to be Rachel’s Popcorn with Peter Travers interview. We also have to mention her talk show interview with The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, in which she talks about her ride along with J. Lo and her SAG Foundation panel with the “Southpaw” cast.

Best Quote
One of our favorite quotes are always quotes that reveal a bit more about what kind of roles Rachel is interesting in playing.

“I want to play characters that are flawed and interesting. I’ve always been interested in doing that [playing grittier roles]. I don’t really want to repeat myself. For the most part, I always want to be doing something new.”
-Rachel McAdams, Time

Best Quote on Rachel
This is always one of our favorite sections to look up, because it’s always nice to read quotes on Rachel by people she worked with. To quote her “Southpaw” co-star Rachel is the world’s most beloved creature so it was very difficult to pick just one quote. We decided to highlight the following two quotes:

“She’s a very thoughtful actress, and I guess that can be seen as super picky, but someone like she has a lot of opportunity. Her time is valuable, and I think you get to a point where you can afford to be a little picky.”
-Tom McCarthy, Los Angeles Times

“Rachel projects a lot of light and warmth, and by layering over that central core with the defenses and aggressions this person would’ve learned in order to survive, she provides a more nuanced and dimensional character. [She has an] ability to convey fierce intelligence and emotional complexity with reserves of strength, in total silence”
-Nic Pizzolatto, Marie Claire

Best Project
With so many projects getting released this year it’s almost impossible to pick just one project but in the end we think “True Detective” is our favorite performance by Rachel this year. It was very interesting to see Rachel portray such a layered, intense and interesting character. We also have to give a honorable mention to “Southpaw” because of *spoilers* THAT scene.

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If you want to (re)read our previous Year in Reviews be sure to check them out: 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010. We also want to give a shout-out and thank you to our friends Frederik and Jess for inspiring us to start the ‘A Year in Review’ in the first place. We would also give a special thank you to our friends Luciana, Claudia, Nicole, Amanda, and Haylie for all their donations this past year (and previous years!).

A special thanks to all our visitors. We know a few things changed behind the scenes, like changing hosts and domains, but we are so happy everyone continues to support the site by visiting, commenting and following our social media accounts.