Suggest

We celebrate the self-awareness, empathy, and wisdom of women in midlife.

Rachel McAdams Looks So Different With Brown Hair And Bangs

CultureCelebs

Her natural hair color is much darker than the one she is recognized for.

By Brianna Morton
May 16, 2022 | 3:00 p.m. CDT
Rachel McAdams wears a green dress with her blonde hair pulled back in a bun on the Oscars red carpet

Rachel McAdams recently reprised her role as Dr. Christine Palmer in Dr. Strange 2: Multiverse Of Madness and rocked a head of red hair that we absolutely adore on her. It was a slightly darker red than she wore for her breakout role in The Notebook. The actress has also been known to rock blonde hair on occasion as she did for Mean Girls, but this early red carpet photo of McAdams with dark brown hair and bangs makes her look almost unrecognizable after so many years of playing fair-haired heroines.

Videos by Suggest

What Is Rachel McAdams’ Natural Hair Color?

Beautiful actress Rachel McAdams has proven over and over again that she can rock a whole rainbow’s worth of colors in her hair and look positively gorgeous in every single one. From the auburn locks she had for her most recent role in Dr. Strange 2: Multiverse Of Madness or the strawberry blonde hue from The Notebook, to her platinum blonde wig in Mean Girls, we’re used to seeing McAdams with fair hair. 

Some fans may not be aware that none of those colors is McAdam’s real hair color. Though she makes a beautiful blonde and a ravishing redhead, McAdams is actually a brunette. She has a tendency to go blonde or even red on occasion, which she gets away with flawlessly thanks to her creamy, pale skin. Both of those hair colors suit her skin tone so well, it’s no wonder she returns to them again and again. 

First Major Red Carpet Shows Her Darker Side

Every once in a while, however, McAdams lets her brunette roots out to play and it’s a jaw-dropping transformation every single time. It was at the premiere of 2004’s Mean Girls, McAdams’ first starring role in a feature film, that we got a closer look at her natural hair color, or at least something close to it. For the film, McAdams wore a long, straight blonde wig to bring the ultimate mean girl Regina George to life. For the premiere, however, she went with the complete opposite. 

Where Regina’s hair was parted down the middle and trailed nearly to the middle of her back, McAdams sported a cute and charming chin-length bob which was a shining chestnut color. The ends were flipped just a little bit and McAdams looked so sweet with her bangs, which we almost never see her wear.

LOS ANGELES – APRIL 19: Actress Rachel McAdams arrives at the premiere of Paramount’s “Mean Girls” at the Cinerama Dome on April 19, 2004 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

While those bangs may have made anyone else look girlish, McAdams pulled them off perfectly. She looked approachable, yet mature: the total opposite of her intimidating onscreen persona. The coppery highlights in her hair also brought out the green in her eyes, coming together to make her look unique and fresh. We wouldn’t mind seeing her rock this color again, it’s so unbelievably flattering on her.