Rachel McAdams gets real in latest interview with minimally retouched photos

Rachel McAdams is back after a two-year hiatus from the limelight, revealing her newfound confidence after giving birth to two children, in new minimally retouched photos – at her request.

Reveling in her new motherhood and new movie roles, the ‘Mean Girls’ actress spoke at length in a new interview about her desire to show a more realistic body image and her journey to embracing her body.

McAdams embraces her natural beauty

“With this shoot, I’m wearing latex underwear. But I’ve had two children. This is my body, and I think that’s so important to reflect back out to the world,” she told Bustle Magazine, of whom she requested that her photos be minimally retouched. The resulting photos show McAdams in her natural state, including armpit hair.

“It’s OK to look your best and work at it and be healthy, but that’s different for everyone.”

In a 2018 photoshoot with Girls. Girls. Girls. Magazine, the actress, who had just given birth to her first child, posed for photos in a breast pump while wearing haute couture.

“I love that juxtaposition of beauty, glam, fantasy, and then truth,” McAdams said of the resulting photos.

Girls. Girls. Girls. Magazine founder, Claire Rothstein, praised McAdams, saying:

“This shoot was about 6 months post her giving birth to her son, so between shots she was expressing/pumping as still breastfeeding. We had a mutual appreciation disagreement about whose idea it was to take this picture but I’m still sure it was hers which makes me love her even more.”

McAdams on missed opportunities during breaks in her career

“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 said, reflecting on various breaks she’s taken during her career, including 2006, and 2020 to 2022.

“But I also knew it wasn’t quite jiving with my personality and what I needed to stay sane.”

In 2006, she tapped out of appearing on a Vanity Fair cover with Scarlett Johansson and Keira Knightley, shot by Annie Leibovitz. The photoshoot required full nudity, which she did not feel comfortable with.

“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.”

McAdams is now set to appear in ‘Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret’, releasing on April 28, 2023.