Sam Raimi told Total Film that Rachel McAdams was “underutilized” in his 2022 MCU sequel “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” and after that movie, he “promised” himself he would work with her again. This pledge led to Raimi casting McAdams in his latest comedy thriller, “Send Help.”
“First, she was the perfect person because she’s such a brilliant actress,” Raimi said. “I had a chance to work with her on my last film and saw how talented she was and actually underutilized, and I promised myself that I would work with her again. And then this film came up, and her warmth is wonderful.”
He added, “The fact that she has not really played a dark, terrible villain before, [producer Zainab Azizi] is the one that told me this, really sets the audience up to be surprised.”
“Send Help” follows an underutilized and undervalued employee (McAdams) and her younger, douchebag boss (Dylan O’Brien), whose toxic power dynamic is reversed when they become stranded on a remote island. Other cast members include Dennis Haysbert, Edyll Ismail, Xavier Samuel, Chris Pang and Thaneth Warakulnukroh. The film hails from Disney and 20th Century.
“Because the movie’s focus is not a whodunnit, but what comes next, that’s what really the movie wants to do to the audience,” Raimi concluded. “They don’t know what’s right around the corner. It turns left when they think it’s gonna turn right, that was an important factor, that she, this good person that we know and love, becomes this terrible villain.”
“Send Help” is currently in theaters nationwide.