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Rachel McAdams Got Praise From ‘Spotlight’ Director Tom McCarthy For Being A ‘Thoughtful’ Actor

By Sarah Field
Published on: 20:24 PST, Feb 27, 2016

When the movie Spotlight won the Robert Altman award for ensemble cast at the Spirit Awards on Saturday night, writer-director Tom McCarthy praised the film’s actors for agreeing so quickly to be part of a small film with a heavy topic. Because of the commitment of Rachel McAdams, Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton and the rest of the ensemble, McCarthy said he was able to get the money he needed to make the movie that chronicles the Boston Globe team that uncovered a sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church.

Last July, as part of a Los Angeles Times article on McAdams, McCarthy praised the actor for her deliberate nature when it comes to filmmaking. As the paper described, McAdams seemed to have a clear distinction between her private and working lives, and was often hard to draw out in interviews. Once thought to be the next Julia Roberts, McAdams has developed a low profile as a working actor.

“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.”

McAdams said her “pickiness” comes from her own “insecurity,” feeling that she has to be fully committed to a project in order to give a good performance. She was reluctant to pursue any class of roles or films of a certain genre just because it was trendy for female actors of her age.

“I try to shut out ideas about why you should do things. Trying to do good architecture and really designing a career? There’s some attention to be paid to that, but I don’t think it’s everything.”

In Spotlight, McAdams plays journalist Sarah Pfeiffer, the one woman in the Globe team that worked tirelessly to uncover a scandal within the Boston diocese that had global repercussions. As Inquisitr previously reported, Spotlight almost didn’t get made, in part because a major production company pulled out without warning. Those behind the film assumed the subject matter was at fault.

Spotlight won big at the Spirit Awards, taking home Best Picture, Director and Screenplay as well as the Robert Altman award for ensemble cast. The ceremony honors independent films. Although Spotlight is also up for several Oscars Sunday night, including a Supporting Actress nod for McAdams, it faces stiff competition in the Director and Picture categories from big budget films like The Revenant.

The focus of Spotlight is the Globe reporting team, showing the importance of a style of journalism that is in danger of disappearing. The real-life reporters spent more than a year investigating the Church scandal, the scope of which became clear over many months.

Pfeiffer told People that she hopes the film will inspire people to support newspapers. She is now a columnist and reporter after having spent five years on the Spotlight team.

“We love the newspaper business very dearly and it’s in very bad shape right now. This is, we hope, showing people how important that business is. We hope people will support it as a result meaning, get subscriptions to your newspaper, digital or home delivery, because that’s the revenue that supports what we do.”

When People asked some of the 2016 Academy Award nominees what they would like to be remembered for, McAdams did not single out her meaningful roles or acting ability. She said, “kindness.”

The 2016 Academy Awards air Sunday night at 8:30 pm ET/5:30 pm PT on ABC.

[Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images]

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