The Notebook is widely regarded as one of cinema's greatest love stories – but behind the scenes, things were less than harmonious between its stars Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams. Now, ten years after the release of the cult movie, director Nick Cassavetes has spoken about the initial tension between the two leads.
Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams starred together in The Notebook
"Maybe I'm not supposed to tell this story, but they were really not getting along one day on set. Really not," Nick told VH1."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'."
The film's director has revealed that Ryan Gosling wanted Rachel McAdams kicked off set
With tensions mounting, Nick held an impromptu counselling session to help get the film back on track. "We went into a room with a producer; they started screaming and yelling at each other," he said. "I walked out. At that point I was smoking cigarettes. I smoked a cigarette and everybody came out like, 'Alright, let’s do this.' And it got better after that. 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."
Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams went on to date on-and-off between 2005 and 2008
That passion went on to make for amazing chemistry on screen – and off. Ryan and Rachel dated from 2005 to 2007, with a brief reunion in 2008. "God bless The Notebook," Ryan told GQ magazine in 2007. "It introduced me to one of the great loves of my life. "But people do Rachel and me a disservice by assuming we were anything like the people in that movie. Rachel and my love story is a hell of a lot more romantic than that."
Ryan Gosling is now dating his Place Beyond The Pines co-star Eva Mendes
Ryan, 33, has been dating his The Place Beyond The Pines co-star Eva Mendes for the past three years. Canadian star Rachel, 35, meanwhile has most recently been linked to Jake Gyllenhaal, following her split from Michael Sheen.
Rachel McAdams has most recently been linked to Jake Gyllenhaal