What Margot Robbie Learned from Rachel McAdams' 'The Notebook' Audition

Before heading into auditions, Margot Robbie would press play on Rachel McAdams’ emotional tryout for “The Notebook.” The clip, which resurfaced years after the film’s release, became a staple of her preparation.

Margot Robbie has Rachel McAdams to thank for helping her ace auditions. The Oscar-nominated actor has admitted she used to watch McAdams’ now-famous audition tape for “The Notebook” before heading into her own audition rooms.

Robbie shared the ritual during a BBC Radio 2 interview, explaining that the clip helped her get into the right headspace. Watching McAdams’ emotional audition became a reminder of what she believed strong auditions require: total commitment.

“She’s so good, and she’s so charming and real, and like, in it,” Robbie said of McAdams’ performance. “I used to watch it before I’d go to an audition. I was like, ‘OK, just try and be as good as her.’”

For Robbie, the lesson wasn’t about imitation but immersion. “It’s just the commitment,” she explained. “I always watched it to remind myself that you have to fully commit in the audition room.”

She later added that “technically” any role she landed could be credited to McAdams’ influence, since she made a habit of revisiting the tape before auditions.

Rachel McAdams’ audition gained renewed attention in 2014 when it resurfaced online to mark the 10th anniversary of the 2004 romance. The clip quickly drew millions of views, with fans revisiting the screen test that helped secure her role as Allie opposite Ryan Gosling’s Noah.

In the tape, McAdams delivers the emotionally charged scene in which Allie tells Noah she is leaving him for her fiancé. Gosling reads his lines off-camera as McAdams leans fully into the heartbreak of the moment. The raw intensity of the performance would go on to define one of the film’s most memorable scenes.

The emotion was genuine. McAdams has said she read the script the night before her audition and “bawled” her eyes out. That vulnerability carried into the room.

She later described the audition as “electric,” recalling, “There was just a feeling there and everything sort of fit. It was the best audition experience I’ve ever had.”

Director Nick Cassavetes revealed that 10 actresses tested opposite Gosling, nine of whom were well known at the time. McAdams, by contrast, was a last-minute audition.

Years later, Robbie would work alongside McAdams in “About Time,” where she had a small role while McAdams led the film. Robbie recalled that she was “absolutely no one” at the time and has spoken about how kind McAdams was to her and her brother. “I just love her,” she said.

For Robbie, the audition tape remains more than a viral clip. It is a reminder that even a single, fully committed performance in a room can change the course of a career.