The Phoenix from Lohan's Ashes

There are a number of starlets shooting into the media spotlight these days; many of them to fall, just a quickly, into tabloid burnout. We are bombarded with cross-over artists and FFNs (famous for nothing) at every turn. But one young woman stands out as talented, personable and radiant. She was the recipient of the "Breakout Star Award" at this year's MTV Movie Awards, and acknowledged by Nicole Kidman as a future talent to behold. Her name is Rachel McAdams.

The buzz on Rachel started its momentum last summer with her Mean Girls and The Notebook performances. However, her awesomeness was over-shadowed by La Lohan and she was largely ignored. It's almost comical now to think that Lohan's tarty "hotness" could blind us to McAdams beautiful charm. The Ontario native has a captivating loveliness that is total movie star. So this summer we'll try it again.

This weekend she appears in Wedding Crashers as the potential love interest of Owen Wilson. Although the comedy is not likely to garner any industy accolades, it will make $100 million and push McAdams into the viewing eyes of a non-tween audience. As well, her character is SO incredible that she makes Wilson's bridesmaid-hopping man reconsider his behaviour. Few young actresses could be realistic in such a role - she must be womanly and attractive and at ease in the "Frat Pack" milieu of a Wilson/Vaughn film. If the trailer is any indication, McAdams will have no problems selling Wilson's infatuation with her. She positively glows in her screen moments. Audiences will go for the laughs, but I'm guessing they will leave with more on their minds than the jokes.