Rachel McAdams absolutely had to show out for the 2024 Tony Awards.
After all, it is McAdams’ very first Tony nomination.
The actress, 45, earned her best performance by a leading actress in a play Tony nomination for her starring role in Mary Jane, where she plays the titular character. It is also her debut Broadway role. McAdams is nominated alongside Betsy Aidem, Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson and Amy Ryan.
For her big night, McAdams hit the red carpet in style, wearing a slinky black-and-white satin slip dress. She accessorized with a bevy of diamond earrings and wore her hair in a sleek middle-parted style.
McAdams made her Mary Jane debut in April, and she told PEOPLE after opening night that she felt “honored” to take the stage.
“Broadway was something I’d always wanted to do but felt really intimidated by,” she said. “So to be standing on that stage feels like the completion of a longtime dream.”
The actress admitted that being on stage makes her nervous but she’s working through it. “I’m less nervous now, but [the nerves are] still there; I still get nervous every night. And that’s okay! We know that there’s a certain amount of nerves that’s good and propels you forward and just makes the performance that much more vibrant, so you want to keep some of them. I’m embracing the nerves!”
Mary Jane is the story of a single mother with an ailing toddler son. Mary Jane is unflappable, though, and lets nothing get her down. A mother herself — she shares two kids, a 6-year-old son and a 4-year-old daughter, with longtime partner Jamie Linden — McAdams brought her own experience to the role.
“You’ve got a really ferocious mama bear in this play. I now, having my own children, really understand deeply what that is and what it feels like to know you would do anything for your child,” McAdams told PEOPLE. “This mother lives in that place every day and I do understand that intimately. I don’t think you have to be a mom to play a great mom, but it definitely lightened my load in terms of research and the guessing.”
The Tony Awards are airing live from Lincoln Center in New York City on Sunday, June 16, on CBS (8 ET/PT) and streaming on Paramount+.
