Rachel McAdams And Dylan O’Brien Dissect Their New ‘Send Help’ Movie

Dylan O’Brien and Rachel McAdams in “Send Help”

20th Century Studios

Send Help is the first shining cinematic experience of 2026 that reminds us why moviegoing remains so incomparable. Starring Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien, the new comedy-horror (and dare I say drama?) tells the story of a quirky and hardworking employee named Linda Liddle (McAdams), who finds herself stranded on an island with her arrogant and privileged boss, Bradley Preston (O’Brien).

Even with Linda’s trained survival skills coming to good use there, the two must ultimately still work together to endure their less-than-ideal circumstances. Soon, agitation towards one another grows and secrets are revealed, as Linda and Bradley face their greatest obstacle for survival: each other.

McAdams gives a career-best performance and a masterclass with her acting abilities in this 20th Century Studios film, which is now playing in theaters, even with her already impressive variety of earlier roles, which iconically include Regina George in Mean Girls and Allie Hamilton in The Notebook. O’Brien might be beloved by young fans for his early acting work on the Teen Wolf series, The Maze Runner films and more recently in Twinless, but he is wildly intriguing with his wide range of emotions that he is able to effectively portray as Bradley throughout Send Help.

Send Help is directed by Sam Raimi, who is praised for his innovative work on the Spider-Man film, as well as for campy horror fan-favorites like The Evil Dead and Drag Me to Hell. The screenplay is written by Damian Shannon and Mark Swift, arguably best known for bringing Freddy vs. Jason, Friday the 13th and Baywatch to the big screen.

Sitting down with McAdams and O’Brien, I wondered if these actors felt like they were able to utilize a different type of acting muscle within their Send Help performances, compared to their prior roles and projects.

McAdams said, “Yeah, I feel like we had to kind of go everywhere at one point or another – and it was very experimental, which was fun. I mean, some days it was scary. It was like, Gee, I hope this works! We won’t know for a year – but mostly, it was just really exciting to kind of get into some weird places and push it.”

“There’s something freeing about that guessing,” O’Brien said. “It’s such a swing and you’re constantly like calibrating and guessing and going for it. So, you really have no choice but to relinquish control in a way. That piece was really fun. It forces you to get out of your head.”

McAdams added: “And Sam’s films can contain the push – pushing the envelope. He sets this great foundation where you’re somehow totally invested in the ride, but he’ll take you a little weird side doorway – and his films can hold that.”

Having a separate conversation with Send Help writers Shannon and Swift, who already have exciting plans in motion to continue working alongside Raimi on future projects, they revealed their creative process in formulating their Send Help script and visualizing it for the big screen.

Shannon said of creating the character of Linda, “We didn’t really have actors in mind. Truth is, we never really even thought about Rachel, which is why she is such a great choice. She’s the unexpected choice and she brings this kind of wonderful baggage from her other roles, being so different from this. And of course, she’s the nicest person in the world and beloved, which is an asset for this role.”

Swift added: “Speaking of Rachel McAdams, movies like this don’t get awards consideration, but I honestly think she deserves it. She’s just so great in it. Our favorite memory probably from being on the set was being in her makeup trailer, running lines with her. She’s just such an incredible actress.”

Also speaking with Send Help producer Zainab Azizi, who has worked closely beside Raimi throughout this entire filmmaking process, she revealed how this full creative team came to be.

Azizi said of casting McAdams, “When we were developing Linda, Sam and I were very adamant – she had to be America’s sweetheart. I mean, in this case, it was Canada’s sweetheart. You had to fall in love with her. She had to be so likable that we didn’t want audiences to see it coming that she’d go that far. I grew up watching Mean Girls and The Notebook, and to have someone who has never done this before? I was like – Sam, we got to take this risk! He loved Rachel, so when we cast her, it was a dream come true. She is such a professional. She worked with her coach for months. We worked closely with a survivalist. It’s hard to take the most beautiful actress to be the Linda Liddle that you see.”

She added about casting O’Brien: “When it came to Dylan, with developing Bradley, it was very specific. He was a nepo baby, but he was also much younger than her. We hated him for so many reasons, but we also needed to make sure he had many, many layers to his character. He’s not one-dimensional. With Dylan, as you know, he’s a leading man in these franchises, but I watched Caddo Lake and I saw how incredible his depth is, and how warm and loving, and I thought – That’s the guy!”

Azizi went on to say that “I’ve worked with many directors – Sam is the most collaborative director I’ve ever worked with.” So, with O’Brien and McAdams knowing how Raimi likes to push the envelope in his films, how did his creative approach help their own acting performances?

O’Brien said, “It’s freeing to be in the hands of him.”

McAdams added: “Yeah, so much permission to play, to go for it.”

While O’Brien took a moment to also reflect upon his own acting career, which now spans more than 15 years, he said, “I mean, 18 is quite young to start and it’s become such a part of my life. It’s brought me so many things in my life: experiences, people, adventures. I’ve learned from so many different parts of the world and different things that it’s brought you. It’s just like almost impossible to kind of articulate. I’m grateful.”

While rounding out my Send Help conversation with McAdams and O’Brien, I left this new and memorable cinematic duo with my signature interview question, wondering what they would say to their characters, Linda and Bradley, in the midst of their castaway moments, if only they could.

McAdams said, “Oh, I have so much advice for Linda. How do I pick one thing?”

I quickly interjected, saying that Linda was in the right, at times.

“In some ways, she is,” McAdams continued. “I think she oversteps some moral boundaries.”

Turning to O’Brien, McAdams then asked, “Do you have one?”

“I really don’t,” O’Brien said.

McAdams laughed. “No advice?”

O’Brien added: “No, no, no. I’m trying.”

“No notes for Bradley,” McAdams said.

O’Brien playfully concluded about his Bradley character, “I don’t see the problem. What is everyone’s problem?”