Gena Rowlands played the older version of Rachel McAdams' character, Allie, in the 2004 film 'The Notebook.'
The Notebook star Gena Rowlands has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, her son and the movie's director, Nick Cassavetes, reveals.
Cassavetes, who directed the 2004 Nicholas Sparks adaptation starring Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams, spoke with Entertainment Weekly about his 93-year-old mother's tragic health setback, which mirrored that of her on-screen character, Allie.
The Mayo Clinic defines Alzheimer's disease as a "brain disorder" that "causes the brain to shrink and brain cells to eventually die." This leads to "a gradual decline in memory, thinking, behavior and social skills."
Rowlands played the older version of McAdams' role, showing the character battling Alzheimer's as her longtime love Noah, played by Gosling and also James Garner in the older years, read her the story of two star-crossed lovers. It turns out to eventually be the story of Allie and Noah's romance, prompting heartbreaking scenes of the two lovers at the end of the movie.
"I got my mom to play older Allie, and we spent a lot of time talking about Alzheimer's and wanting to be authentic with it, and now, for the last five years, she's had Alzheimer's," Cassavetes told EW of Rowlands. "She's in full dementia. And it's so crazy — we lived it, she acted it, and now it's on us."
Gena's mother, Lady Rowlands, also suffered from the disease.
"I went through that with my mother, and if Nick hadn't directed the film, I don't think I would have gone for it — it's just too hard. It was a tough but wonderful movie," Gena told O Magazine in 2004.
Gena's last credited role was in 2017 for the short Unfortunate Circumstances. In addition to her role in The Notebook, she also had memorable roles in Hope Floats, The Skeleton Key, Paris, I Love You, Something to Talk About, and much more. She has a total of 106 acting credits to her name.
It was previously revealed that Britney Spears was initially in the running to play Allie after the pop star's audition tape went viral.
In 2023, The Notebook's casting director Matthew Berry told ET, "Britney came in and blew us all away… I think she should really go back to [acting]."
He added that deciding between McAdams and Spears "was a very, very hard toss up between the two of them."
RELATED CONTENT:
