Rachel McAdams as Irene Adler, an American femme fatale from New Jersey who outwitted Holmes, as chronicled in Doyle 's story "A Scandal in Bohemia ''. A skilled professional thief, as well as a divorcée, Adler is no longer married to Godfrey Norton and needs Holmes ' help for the case. Downey convinced Ritchie to cast McAdams, arguing she would not look too young to be his love interest. In this aspect the film considerably departs from Doyle 's original, where Holmes never met Adler again after the one occasion where she outwitted (and greatly impressed) him; the film conversely implies that the two of them met many times and later had an intermittent, hotly consummated love affair.
who plays irene adler in sherlock holmes movie
Rachel McAdams