This is the first time I’ve realized that Rachel McAdams is doing some kind of low-key Oscar campaign. It’s like pulling teeth though, getting her to hype herself or glad-hand at industry events. She’s simply too Canadian! Rachel’s turn in Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret has already gotten her an LA Film Critics Award for best supporting performance, and the studio thinks she’s a dark horse for an Oscar nomination for supporting too. That would be her second Oscar nom, if it happens – her first was for Spotlight. Well, they got Rachel to chat with Variety in what will probably be one of the few Oscar campaign interviews she will agree to. Some highlights:

The “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” set was family-friendly: She had her five-month-old daughter and two-year-old son on set. Even her younger sister and make-up artist Kayleen had her two children, two and three months, by her side. “We had a really amazing mom-positive set. Everyone understood me having to send breast milk down the road in a van all day long.”

Mom guilt: But McAdams is susceptible to the looming sense of “mom guilt” that plagues many working parents, despite being “very lucky” to have lots of time with her kids.

Whether Barbara was supposed to be a sexy mom: “We had a lot of conversations about making our film relatable and klutzy at times. I had Judy [Blume] on one hand saying, ‘I think she should be sexy. Why can’t moms be super sexy?’ And on the other hand, Kelly asking me, ‘Do you think you’re a super sexy mom?’ And I was like, ‘No, do you feel like a super sexy mom?’ And she said, ‘No, but we are. We just don’t feel like it.’ It was finding the middle ground where we can be all these things, and there’s honesty in that.”

She doesn’t have a cameo in the new Mean Girls movie: “Tina and I sort of dabbled with a few ideas, but it was tough to make it all work in the end. I was really down for whatever she wanted to do. I think the direction it went in will be fantastic and I cannot wait to see it.”

Why she didn’t reunite with the OG Mean Girls cast for the Walmart commercial: “I don’t know; I guess I wasn’t that excited about doing a commercial if I’m being totally honest. A movie sounded awesome, but I’ve never done commercials, and it just didn’t feel like my bag. Also…I didn’t know that everyone was doing it. I would, of course, always love to be part of a ‘Mean Girls’ reunion and hang with my plastics, but yeah, I found that out later.”

[From Variety]

“I guess I wasn’t that excited about doing a commercial if I’m being totally honest” – I get that. It felt like Walmart really pulled out all the stops to get the cast for a commercial and the effort probably wasn’t worth it? And some actors just don’t want to do commercials. I suspect that Rachel isn’t one of the wealthiest actresses out there, but she lives a simple, low-key life and she’s doesn’t need to collect Walmart-commercial paychecks just to make ends meet. It’s interesting that she would have been up for a cameo in the movie though – I wonder why they couldn’t make it work?

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.