8 Reasons Why Rachel McAdams Deserves To Have Her Own McConaissance

From Mean Girls to The Notebook, we chart Rachel McAdams' best movie moments...

Rachel McAdams is already a household name to many - especially those of us with an unhealthy attachment to The Notebook - but with her most recent role as a gun-wielding cop in the second season of True Detective and her upcoming part as ex-girlfriend of Bradley Cooper in Cameron Crowe's comedy, Aloha, which also stars Emma Stone, Alec Baldwin AND Bill Murray, her career is about to blow up. Think a Matthew McConaughey-style renaissance. A McConaissance, if you will.

There's little doubt that 2015 is going to be the year of Ms McAdams, and, while she's starred in her fair share of middle-of-the-road rom-coms (The Time Traveler's Wife, we're looking at you), let's not go forgetting the many note-worthy film roles she's had - some of them now iconic.

Here, we chart our favourite Rachel McAdams movie moments, while we wait for the full force of the McAnaissance (doesn't quite work, does it?) to take hold.

Mean Girls, 2004

Up there with Clueless and Legally Blonde, Mean Girls has become a cult classic for a generation of women. Written by Tina Fey, this seminal movie about a group of bitchy high school girls called The Plastics is one of the most quotable films, like, ever. McAdams plays head Plastic, and main nemesis of Lindsay Lohan's Cady Heron, Regina George. So fetch.

The Notebook, 2004

It's melodramatic and sentimental, but what would you expect from an adaptation of Nicholas Sparks' bestselling novel? The chemistry between Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling makes this romantic weepie, even though he revealed years later that they actually hated each other during filming. They eventually got over it and became a real life couple though, so no damage done.

Morning Glory, 2010

Scripted by The Devil Wears Prada writer and directed by Notting Hill's Roger Michell, Adams plays an up and coming TV producer for a flailing American morning news show in this rom-com. Though the movie didn't receive wide critical acclaim, there was consensus on one thing: Rachel McAdams' impeccable performance.

Wedding Crashers, 2005

Playing the love interest to Owen Wilson's wedding crashing John Beckwith, the actress is lovable in the role of Claire Cleary and, frankly, one of the best things about the movie. Alongside the brilliant Isla Fisher, of course. And Owen Wilson. And Vince Vaughn. Oh, and Bradley Cooper.

Married Life, 2007

A Hitchcock-style psychological thriller, this 2007 movie sees McAdams give another faultless performance as a war widow having an affair with a middle-aged businessman who then decides that, rather than ending his marriage, he'll try and poison his wife. Dark.

Red Eye, 2005 

Yet another mediocre film that is made infinitely better by having Rachel McAdams in it. She plays a hotel manager who finds herself sitting next to a terrorist on an overnight flight. Critics praised the actress for the subtlety she brought to a part that could so easily have been over-acted.

State of Play, 2009

A thinking man's thriller set at a Washington newspaper, Rachel McAdams joined an all-star cast for this film starring Russell Crowe, Helen Mirren and Ben Affleck. She plays a plucky young reporter - and guess what? Yep, her performance is brilliant.

Midnight in Paris, 2011

Woody Allen's beautiful love letter to Paris saw McAdams reunited with her Wedding Crashers co-star, Owen Wilson. Starring Michael Sheen (who Rachel went onto date for two years), Marion Cotillard and with a cameo from France's then First Lady Carla Bruni herself, this was one of Woody Allen's most successful movies in decades.