What to Know
After a career that has spanned over 20 years and included iconic hits like Mean Girls, The Notebook, and About Time, on January 20, Rachel McAdams was awarded the ultimate honor: her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. As per tradition, one of her friends and former costars made a short speech about the actress at the ceremony, pointing out just how much she didn’t “deserve” the star.
Domnhall Gleeson spoke about Rachel at the ceremony.
Domhnall Gleeson gives a speech at Rachel McAdams' Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony: “Rachel, I don’t think you deserve this. Life has taught me that you’re not supposed to have it all. It’s not fair to be everyone’s favorite person on set and the best actor in the room.” pic.twitter.com/ZqVmI0Oo0h
— Variety (@Variety) January 20, 2026
Fans of About Time already know that Domhnall is the Irish actor who starred opposite Rachel in the rom com, and since they go way back, it made sense that he’d speak at her ceremony… but this probably wasn’t what she was expecting him to say!
In a video of his speech that was shared by Variety on X, Domhnall can be heard saying, “Rachel, I don’t think you deserve this. Life has taught me that you’re not supposed to have it all. It’s not fair to be everyone’s favorite person on set and the best actor in the room.”
He might have a point. Why is she good at everything?!
Rachel gave a special shout out to the late Diane Keaton in her speech.
After working with Diane Keaton in The Family Stone, which was released in 2005, Rachel had an opportunity to grow a close bond with Diane before her death in 2025, so it’s no surprise that she wanted to mention her on such an important day. In her speech, she said that Diane “took me under her wing like I was her own daughter.”
“She taught me that no matter how long you’ve been doing this, you have to leave everything you’ve got on the table,” Rachel said, according to People. “Each performance, you must muster up as much love as you possible can. And then you’ll only feel like a dumb-dumb idiot half the time in life.”
She called getting her own star “such an honor.”
While talking to Entertainment Tonight at the ceremony, Rachel admitted that getting her own star was a milestone she’d never seen coming early in her career.
After calling the experience “surreal,” Rachel said, “This is just such an honor. I’m so grateful.”
