Over the course of her career, we’ve seen Rachel McAdams play roles like Regina George in Mean Girls and Allie in The Notebook, but now, in Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret., we get to see her play a mom in the coming-of-age story adapted from the beloved Judy Blume book — and Rachel also happens to be a mom in real life.
Now, she’s opening up to CafeMom’s Momtourage podcast about what motherhood in the spotlight means to her, including how she felt about sharing a particularly intimate mom moment with the world.
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Back in 2018, Rachel posed for a photo for while pumping breast milk.
Because she has two children with screenwriter Jamie Linden, she knows that the reality of being a working mom means having to do things like pumping while at work. There’s still so much stigma about breastfeeding and pumping in public — stigma that this iconic photo cut right through when fans saw Rachel pose for Girls Girls Girls magazine while wearing Versace.
Rachel opened up about how she feels about sharing that moment.
While talking to Momtourage, Rachel called it an “organic moment” that took place with photographer Claire Rothstein, whose goal was to reject the idea that women have to be an unattainable level of perfect.
Rachel had to pump during the shoot, and as any mama who has breastfed knows, that’s not usually something you can put off.
The actress says she and crew thought, “Why don’t we just lean into this very real moment we’re having right now where I’m wearing a Versace bra and I’m figuring out how the tubing can interact with that bra.”
She feels like this part of motherhood is 'hidden.'
In fact, after becoming a mom for the first time, Rachel admitted that she still couldn’t decide if it was OK to nurse or pump in public.
“I was still having these thoughts of, ‘Is there shame? I’m feeling some shame, and what is that all about?'” she said.
Because of that, she said that posing with her pump “felt really good.”
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Rachel also shared what mom responsibilities she'd like to outsource.
And this is when she came up with the brilliant idea of hiring a chef to cook for babies when they’re first learning how to eat solids.
“I loved the whole baby-led weaning and experimenting with food and handing him a giant carrot or a big chunk of broccoli, and I was really into it,” she said. “But the second [baby] comes around and it’s like … baby pouches.”
We could see this really taking off!
'Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.' hits theaters on April 28.
Whether you’re a fan of Rachel’s, loved the book growing up, or are introducing the Judy Blume story to your own children, it seems like this movie is one you won’t want to miss!
Listen to Momtourage here!
