Rachel McAdams Opens up About the Gross Stunts She Had To Perform in Send Help
When Rachel McAdams signed on for Sam Raimi’s latest thriller, Send Help, she expected the usual intensity that comes with a director known for the Evil Dead franchise. However, she wasn’t quite prepared for just how messy some of the stunts would get. One particular scene involved her being nearly submerged in a mud puddle, but the production team had a sweet alternative in mind.
The actress shared that she was actually looking forward to the sequence when she heard they would be using brownie mix instead of actual dirt. She joked that I was like, that sounds like heaven! but quickly realized that being covered in thick, sticky chocolate for hours of filming was more of a survival challenge than a treat. It’s the kind of disgusting yet playful detail that fans have come to expect from Raimi, who has built a career on making his lead actors suffer in the most creative ways possible.
Bringing home the bacon 🥓
— 20th Century Studios (@20thcentury) January 21, 2026
Watch this new clip from SEND HELP, directed by Sam Raimi, starring Rachel McAdams and Dylan O'Brien.
Early sneak previews this Saturday. In theaters everywhere January 30.
Get tickets now: https://t.co/zKcFp7eOMK pic.twitter.com/fu1LW4PGpk
Send Help follows McAdams as Linda Liddle, a corporate analyst who is constantly overlooked by her arrogant boss, Bradley Preston, played by Dylan O’Brien. The two find themselves in a nightmare scenario when their plane crashes during a trip to Thailand, leaving them as the only survivors on a tropical island.
What starts as a fight against nature quickly turns into a psychological battle of wills as the power dynamic between the employee and her former employer begins to shift.
Reviewers have highlighted how McAdams transitions from a beleaguered office worker into a hardened survivalist, a role that lets her lean into the same intensity she showed in Red Eye. With the script being written by the same team behind the 2009 Friday the 13th reboot, the movie balances genuine scares with the dark, slapstick humor that Raimi is famous for.
Rachel McAdams tells us about the grossest stunts Sam Raimi made her do for ‘SEND HELP’
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) January 29, 2026
“I was excited about this scene where I get almost drowned in a mud puddle, and they said we’re going to use brownie mix… I was like, that sounds like heaven!” pic.twitter.com/bD6fyAHFfY
As of this year, Rachel McAdams is back in the spotlight in a big way. Just last week, on January 20, she was honored with her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a ceremony attended by her co-star Dylan O’Brien and director Sam Raimi.
In addition to her film work, McAdams has been focusing on her family life in Canada while maintaining her status as one of Hollywood’s most versatile leading ladies. With Send Help projected to be a major box office hit this February, it’s clear that her move into the “survival horror” space is a winning one. Between the mud puddles and the Hollywood stars, she remains an actress who isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty for the sake of a great story.
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