Nick Cassavetes regrets spilling the beans on the frictions between his two lead stars, Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams, when they were filming the 2004 romantic comedy.
- Jun 25, 2024
AceShowbiz - What happens behind the scenes often remains hidden, but when it involves one of the most beloved romantic films of a generation, curiosity peaks. Director Nick Cassavetes recently revisited the turbulent on-set relationship of Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams during the filming of "The Notebook", offering a surprising apology years after the revelation.
It's been 10 years since Cassavetes first spilled the beans about the initial tension between Gosling and McAdams while filming the 2004 hit movie. Speaking with Entertainment Weekly for a 20th anniversary special, Cassavetes expressed regret over his past revelations, emphasizing that he perhaps shouldn't have aired the duo's behind-the-scenes conflict.
"The last time I did an interview on this thing, I spilled the beans on that. I regretted it. Everyone's like, why are you telling that? I'm like, 'I don't know.' It caught me on a bad day, but if [McAdams and Gosling] are around, I apologize to you guys. I shouldn't have spilled the beans," Cassavetes admitted.
The on-screen chemistry between Gosling and McAdams, who portrayed one of the most legendary couples in modern cinema, didn't come easily. Cassavetes had previously shared in a 2014 VH1 interview that the actors had a particularly rough day on set. Ryan Gosling even went as far as to request a different actress for his scenes with McAdams.
"Ryan came to me, and there's 150 people standing in this big scene, and he says, 'Nick come here.' 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,' " Cassavetes recounted.
Gosling and McAdams went on to have a heated exchange in a private room with a producer, which ultimately improved their working relationship. "We went into a room with a producer; they started screaming and yelling at each other."
"I walked out… And it got better after that, you know? They had it out… 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," Cassavetes noted.
Despite the initial tension, "The Notebook" went on to become a defining romantic film of its generation, even inspiring a Tony Award-nominated Broadway musical adaptation. Moreover, the once-discordant duo developed a real-life romance, dating from 2005 to 2007.
Cassavetes credits Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams for the enduring charm of the movie. "If you want to know why The Notebook is considered kind of a romantic classic, the answers are Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams, and that's the beginning and the end of it," he says.
