The Notebook (2004)
Trivia
The "'after 7 years' Allie and Noah" scenes were shot first, and then the crew/cast went on a Christmas break. Ryan Gosling had to lose the beard and 20 lbs he'd had as the older Noah and come back to play the young Noah. Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling were rather shy and unsure around each other in the "after 7 years" scenes but were more comfortable together in the young Allie and Noah scenes.
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Spoilers (5)
Ryan Gosling prepared for his role by living in Charleston, South Carolina before filming began. For two months, he rowed the Ashley River every morning and built furniture during the day.
To improve the relationship between the leads, director Nick Cassavetes staged an intervention by bringing them into a room where they could air all the grievances they had with each other and work something out. They soon patched up their differences, enough to become a real-life couple for some time.
According to Nick Cassavetes, Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams did not get along at first and Gosling tried to have McAdams replaced.
Rachel McAdams spent time in Charleston before filming to familiarize herself with the surroundings. She also took ballet and etiquette classes and had a dialect coach to learn the southern accent.
Ryan Gosling built the kitchen table featured in the movie, in preparation for his role as Noah.
The scene where Noah drives up and crashes into the gate of Allie's summer manor was a fluke. They ruined a perfectly good gate, but they managed to get a great shot.
Nick Cassavetes wanted someone unknown and "not handsome" to portray Noah; therefore, he cast Ryan Gosling in the role.
Rachel McAdams auditioned for the role during another movie's premiere. She was given the script just a day in advance and beat nine other actresses for the role. The scenes used during her audition included the one of Allie's and Noah's argument at the end after Allie and her mother return from their morning drive.
Ryan Gosling (Noah) and Rachel McAdams (Allie) were both born in St. Joseph's Hospital in London, Ontario.
Ryan Gosling was director Nick Cassavetes' first and only choice for the role of Noah. Before Cassavetes, Steven Spielberg, Tom Cruise and Justin Timberlake were also once attached to the project but backed out.
The band leader is supposed to be Cab Calloway, who was best known for call and response tunes in which the band members and audience would repeat his "skat" lyrics.
Other actresses rumored to have been under consideration for the role of Allie included Ashley Judd and Reese Witherspoon. Britney Spears auditioned for the role and her footage was put on sale on eBay for $1 million in May 2021.
This is the third film adaptation of a Nicholas Sparks novel.
Jessica Biel auditioned for the role of Allie.
The film cast includes one Oscar winner, Mark Johnson, and six Oscar nominees: Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands, James Garner, Joan Allen, Rachel McAdams and Sam Shepard.
The film rights to the novel were acquired by New Line Cinema in 1996, represented by producer Mark Johnson. Jeremy Leven was hired to write the script, which caught the attention of Steven Spielberg in 1998, who wished to film it with Tom Cruise as Noah Calhoun. Spielberg's commitment to other projects led to Jim Sheridan becoming attached to direct the following year. Filming was to start in 1999 but was pushed back over rewrites. Sheridian eventually backed out by October 2000 to work on In America (2002).
Background music for the original theatrical trailer for this film featured music from Rachel Portman's score for The Cider House Rules (1999) .
Throughout the movie, all the handwritten items bear the same handwriting. When Noah goes out in the morning to get them breakfast, he leaves a note for Allie taped to the headboard. That handwriting is clearly readable and ornate. Later in the film, when you see the handwritten inscription by Allie to Noah on the opening pages of the Notebook, the handwriting is the same as that in the note. Both written by the same person, not by Noah and Allie, respectively. Also notice the handwriting on the envelope Allie's mother takes from the mailbox and that on the letter from Noah that Allie reads at the near end of the move. All written by the same hand. Somebody in the crew had beautiful penmanship!
Martin Campbell entered negotiations to direct in March 2001, before he was replaced by Nick Cassavetes a year later.
Rachel McAdams and James Marsden both have appeared in films based on Marvel Comics. Marsden played Scott Summers (Cyclops) in three X-Men movies, McAdams played Dr. Christine Palmer in Doctor Strange (2016).
Spoilers
The pictures of an older Allie and Noah through the years are actually the personal photos of Gena Rowlands of her and her husband John Cassavetes with James Garner's face photo shopped in over John's face.
Gena Rowlands, who played older Allie in the movie, is director Nick Cassavetes's mother.
Ryan Gosling (Young Noah) wore brown eye contacts because James Garner (Old Noah) has brown eyes, and Gosling has blue.
When we are first introduced to the young Allie and Noah, they are wearing the same colors worn by the older them in the beginning of the film. This was to give us a clue about who the older version of Allie and Noah were.
