Marvel director Sam Raimi has openly confessed that actress Rachel McAdams was "underutilised" in the superhero sequel Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The 2022 blockbuster saw McAdams reprise her role as Christine Palmer, the former girlfriend of Benedict Cumberbatch's Stephen Strange, a character she first portrayed in the 2016 original film.
Raimi's Promise to Work with McAdams Again
In a recent interview with Total Film magazine, Raimi discussed his latest collaboration with the Oscar-nominated actress on the new survival horror film Send Help. The director revealed that after their experience on The Multiverse of Madness, he made a personal vow to team up with McAdams once more.
"First, she was the perfect person because she's such a brilliant actress," Raimi explained. "I had a chance to work with her on my last film and saw how talented she was and actually underutilised. And I promised myself that I would work with her again. And then this film came up, and her warmth is wonderful."
McAdams' Role in Send Help
The new film Send Help, which also features Dylan O'Brien, casts McAdams as Linda, a woman who becomes stranded on a desert island alongside a colleague following a catastrophic plane crash. Critics have praised her performance, with The Independent's Clarisse Loughrey noting in a four-star review that "McAdams, in turn, delivers broad comedic strokes with such forceful humanity that she's able to play her own tricks on the audience's sympathies."
Loughrey added: "She can screw up her face in a way that makes you start to fear that the entire thing might explode."
Surprising Villainous Turn
Raimi further elaborated on McAdams' versatility, highlighting how her portrayal of a "dark, terrible villain" in Send Help serves to subvert audience expectations. "They don't know what's right around the corner," he said. "It turns left when they think it's gonna turn right. That was an important factor, that she, this good person that we know and love, becomes this terrible villain."
The director emphasised that this dramatic shift from her previous roles, including her more restrained part in the Marvel universe, helps to "set the audience up to be surprised" and showcases her range as a performer.
