Rachel Mcadams Slept through Oscar Nominations

By Meredith Goldstein
Boston Globe
January 14, 2016

http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/names/2016/01/14/rachel-mcadams-thought-oscar-nominations-were-being-announced-tomorrow/XtEEnty11ZSXXLbqQ2qC7J/story.html

Globe reporter Sacha Pfeiffer (left) and actress Rachel McAdams at the Golden Globe Awards last Sunday.

Actress Rachel McAdams wasn’t up for Thursday morning’s announcement of this year’s Oscar nominations — not because she’s too cool to care, but because she thought they were being announced on Friday.

“I had the day wrong. I was in a deep, deep sleep,” she told us. “I was half-asleep wondering why my publicist was calling me at 5:45. Then I saw every person who I had ever loved or knew had texted me. I thought there had been some catastrophic event in the world.”

McAdams is among the nominees for best supporting actress for the Boston film “Spotlight,” which follows The Boston Globe’s Spotlight team investigation of the Catholic Church abuse scandal. In the film she plays reporter Sacha Pfeiffer, who was a frequent visitor to the set. McAdams’s nomination is one of six for “Spotlight”; the drama, directed by Tom McCarthy, also picked up nominations for best picture, best director, best screenplay, best editing, and best supporting actor for Mark Ruffalo, who plays Spotlight reporter Mike Rezendes.

“We were all just so blown away by the story, and the hard work and the tenacity that led to this thing being exposed,” McAdams said, of the story, adding, of Pfeiffer, “I couldn’t have asked for a better experience and an amazing woman to shadow.”

McAdams took Pfeiffer as her date to the Golden Globes on Sunday. The duo will be together for the 21st Annual Critics’ Choice Awards this weekend.

Pfeiffer called the awards scene surreal.

“I never thought the movie would get made, because there are so many hurdles to making movies, and the topic is somewhat grim. So it’s been this delightful shock to have them make a movie that’s actually good, and that many people are actually watching and liking, and that’s now winning and getting nominated for awards.” She added of McAdams, “Most people only see the red carpet side of big-name actors, but I got to witness up-close how hard Rachel worked to get ready for this role, and how much effort she put into studying me and replicating my mannerisms and even trying to understand the way I think. And I consider that a testament to how talented she is.”

McAdams said that because she didn’t expect to hear about nominations until Friday, she had an ordinary day planned for herself.

“I’m having a pancake breakfast with my brother-in-law and then I’m going to get my roots done,” she said, with a laugh. “I hadn’t really blocked the day out. I have 200 pages of a book to read for my book club.”

(In case you’re wondering, McAdams’s book club is reading “The Nightingale” by Kristin Hannah.)