"The Notebook" turned ten years old in June, and for some, it reignited the passion and tears the movie first evoked a decade ago. For others, it was just a reminder of when Ryan Gosling was still an up-and-coming actor, doing the kind of movies he wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole today. Meanwhile, for other folks, mostly those who track gossip history, the movie marked the first encounter between future sweethearts, Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams. And here’s a story that may dampen that narrative a bit.
While you might thank that sparks on the set of the film led to Gosling and McAdams getting close later on, that’s not quite the case. Speaking with VH1, director Nick Cassavetes reveals that Gosling actually couldn’t stand his co-star at all. "Maybe, I’m not supposed to tell this story, but they were really not getting along one day on set. Really not," he said. "And Ryan came to me, and there’s 150 people standing in this big scene, and he says, ‘Nick come here.’ And he’s doing a scene with Rachel and he says, ‘Would you take her out of here and bring in another actress to read off camera with me?’ I said, ‘What?’ He says, ‘I can’t. I can’t do it with her. I’m just not getting anything from this.’ "
Damn. But Cassavetes had another idea, one that eventually led to the two stars finding a way to work together. "We went into a room with a producer; they started screaming and yelling at each other. I walked out. At that point, I was smoking cigarettes. I smoked a cigarette and everybody came out like, ‘All right let’s do this.’ And it got better after that, you know? They had it out…," Cassavetes continued. "I think Ryan respected her for standing up for her character and Rachel was happy to get that out in the open. The rest of the film wasn’t smooth sailing, but it was smoother sailing."
So file that under your "The Notebook" trivia for the next time you want to impress … somebody …