How do the waiters in a place like that actually bring you the food?
Rachel McAdams: They are all actually blind. I’m sure a lot of crazy stuff happens.
We hear that you’re now filming Cameron Crowe’s next movie, and like Richard he uses a lot of music to great effect in his films. Do both of them play music on set that gets you in a certain mood, or do you have your own playlist that you listen to?
Rachel McAdams: Music can be such a great tool. Richard uses it in such a beautiful way. He was very communicative about what he wanted and how that could inform the scenes and the flavor he wanted to inject through music. I’m always so grateful when directors share that with you because it takes away so much of the mystery and you’re like, “Oh okay, this sort of esoteric feeling, now I can put it somewhere in this song.” I found that really helpful, and he would play music. When you’re playing music through the streets of London at like 2 in the morning, there’s something so cool and magical about that and it takes you to a special place very quickly.
Cameron’s the same way. He will play songs in the middle of the take. You let it wash over you (laughs). It’s really fun.
Were there things you discovered about London that you hadn’t before?
Rachel McAdams: I had my first Cornish pasty. That’s not London though, that was Cornwall, but it was exciting. I found out that the miners used to put them in their pockets to keep warm and then they’d each them for lunch.
Did you guys do anything fun together as a cast?
Rachel McAdams: Well the first night that Domhnall and I ever met was on the street where we have our first kiss, and Richard orchestrated it that way. So we literally met for the first time on that corner, and then we went and had dinner with Richard and his partner and they walked us around the neighborhood and we got a feel for where these people come from. That was lovely.
You have done a lot of romantic films. Is there something that attracts you to that genre?
Rachel McAdams: I love stories with love in them. I just prefer those films. Every so often I come across a film where there’s no love story. It doesn’t have to be romantic, but there’s sort of a lack of love and I think that I don’t necessarily get it. Something’s missing here. It’s just personal taste I guess. And it doesn’t always have to be a sweeping romance, but I feel like love and passion are synonymous with each other whether it’s for a person or a thing. I just want to see movies that are infused with passion.
This movie really has two love stories: the one between Mary and Tim and the one between the father and the son. They work so perfectly together and one doesn’t necessarily overshadow the other. The balance between those relationships was great.
Rachel McAdams: Thank you. Richard really didn’t want to watch the two main characters fall out of love. He was like, “You know, I feel like we see that all the time. I want to watch a movie where they stay strong even when things are falling apart around them.” So it doesn’t always have to end in misery and tears, and I really appreciated that. I thought that was a good point.
I thought the movie was going to be like that when I went into it, and I was really surprised at how the relationships evolved. I also liked how the characters in a movie like this are really down to earth, and you don’t always see that because a lot of romance movies can be very manipulative.
Rachel McAdams: Right, that’s interesting. Thank you, that’s a nice comment. And I think that’s something Richard, again, does really well. He kind of undercuts everything. He finds the humor, he finds the joke, everything’s on the table to be laughed along with, and yet he still has this reference for what’s meaningful in life.
What’s your relationship to The Notebook at this point? Is it like your Titanic to where you say you did it so let’s just move on, or does it hold a special place in your heart?
Rachel McAdams: Oh I think it will always hold a special place in my heart. I’m very grateful for that film, and I feel very lucky to have been a part of it. Anything that seems to reach people, and we certainly didn’t know that going into it, is a real privilege to be a part of. And the amount of men who come up to me and confess that they kind of secretly, maybe sort of like the movie just delights me to no end (laughs). I never get enough of that or the women who rat out their boyfriends and husbands.
Do you think Mary from this film would be a fan of Mean Girls?
Rachel McAdams: (laughs) That’s such a great question! I think she would. I think she would really appreciate it. She probably would have read the manuscript and said, “We have to buy this.” I’m sure she would have loved that.
What was it like being an American surrounded by British people?
Rachel McAdams: Great. I mean I’m glad that it was pointed out in the film that I was American so people didn’t think I just had a bad British accent. They are so funny and their timing is impeccable, and there are so many actors in this film in particular who have such a wealth of theater in their background. There’s a level of professionalism that is incredible, and being able to work together as an ensemble was really seamless and it happens really quickly. There’s sort of no messing about with that, and yet they have such a great sense of humor about everything.
Domhnall, I always forgot, wasn’t English. He would stay in his English accent all day. Even when he came in for makeup he was in his English accent, and it wasn’t until we got our makeup taken off at the end of the day that he’d suddenly go back into Irish. And I was always, “Why are you talking like that? Are you doing a bit right now?” It was impeccable, really good, and it was an inspiring group to be around.
Do you have a favorite holiday movie?
Rachel McAdams: I do. I love Love Actually, that’s probably one of my favorite Richard Curtis films, but I love this little movie called One Magic Christmas where Harry Dean Stanton played Gideon the angel who lived in the tree and Mary Steenburgen’s character hates Christmas. It’s really emotional actually, it really goes there. It gets a little bit dark. Harry Dean Stanton is sort of the voice of Christmas Past or that kind of ghost character. To watch Mary Steenburgen fall back in love with Christmas and life… My mom, my sister and I watch it every year.
That concludes our interview but we’d like to thank Rachel for her time. Be sure to check out About Time when it hits theatres this Friday.