Canadian star Rachel McAdams is returning to her role as Dr. Christine Palmer in “Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness”, but the actress reveals she initially expected to play three different versions of her character within the multiverse. Instead, she gets to play two disparate versions of the character as Doctor Strange unleashes the multiverse.
McAdams tells IndieWire that she wasn’t “necessarily” on board for the sequel, which underwent a change in director from Scott Derrickson to Sam Raimi (Derrickson directed the first “Strange” film and remains an executive producer) while a new script was written by Michael Waldron.
“I think there was a lot of script work being done and then there was sort of a changing of the guard,” McAdams says, adding she didn’t know her character was returning until she got the call. “I was still in the dark, and then it was like, ‘All right, I’m coming now, okay!’
“It did change a little bit from what I was originally told, [which was] that it would be three different versions, and we wound up with two different versions in the end,” McAdams explains of her character. “But they said I’d be playing a very different version of the Christine Palmer I played in the first film, that I wasn’t an emergency room doctor, just a completely different person with a completely different life experience.”
She adds that the OG Christine has “dyed her hair, not in scrubs anymore” while the multiverse version is in “much more of a uniform.”
“Something I can do a little bit more damage in, action-wise. She’s definitely in a bit of a more fantastical world than the world of gritty emergency room in New York,” the actress explains.
McAdams was definitely ready for a little more onscreen action this time around.
“I love doing action. I love being physical as an actor. I find it kind of gets me out of my head and there’s always something surprising that comes out of it,” she shares. “I grew up playing sports, so it’s nice to kind of use your body and see if it still works the way it used to. And people love that stuff, so it’s just really satisfying to get to participate in that way.”
“Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness” opens in theatres on May 6.
