#TBT: Young Rachel McAdams as a Future Canadian Politician

Raechal Shewfelt
·Editor, Yahoo Entertainment
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Rachel McAdams in her school days. (Photo: Jeff Rayner/Coleman-Rayner)

Then: It was the late ‘90s, and Canadian high schooler Rachel McAdams was already in love with acting, having performed in school and community productions since her tween years, when she sat for these yearbook photos.

She even predicted in her yearbook that her future plans were to “live long and prosper with my 6 well-adjusted kids, surviving off the 10 million from my first motion picture."

However, Linda Pereira, a teacher at the school McAdams attended, Central Elgin Collegiate Institute in St. Thomas, Ontario, told the U.K.'s Daily Mail that there was a time the future Notebook star planned to study political science in college.

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(Photo: Jeff Rayner/Coleman-Rayner)

"She said, 'Well, I don’t think you can make a living at [acting],’” Pereira told the newspaper. “I said to her, ‘What do you really want to do?’ She paused and said 'to act.’ So she went and changed her application right there and then. The rest is history."

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Now: McAdams, who earned an acting degree from Toronto’s York University, quickly proved herself wrong. After beginning her career in Canada, she was churning out hits, such as Mean Girls and Wedding Crashers before it was time for her 10-year class reunion.

"I’m so proud of her,” Pereira said. “She was such a talent, and such a hard worker, too. The kids at the school are still inspired by her.” They had another reason to revere McAdams on Thursday, because her latest film, Spotlight, was named as one of the Golden Globes nominees for best drama.