Gena Rowlands, who is known for her performance in The Notebook, has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease.
During a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Rowland’s son, and director of The Notebook, Nick Cassavetes, revealed the news about his mother’s health.
“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,” he explained. “And now, for the last five years, she’s had Alzheimer’s. She’s in full dementia.”
Gena Rowlands’ son said, “And it’s so crazy — we lived it, she acted it, and now it’s on us.”
Gena Rowlands opened up about her mother’s struggles with the neurological disease and how the experience impacted her decision to play Allie in The Notebook.
“This last one — The Notebook, based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks — was particularly hard,” Rowlands explained during a 2004 interview with O Magazine.
“Because I play a character who has Alzheimer’s. 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.”
‘The Notebook’ Director Recalls ‘Bittersweet’ Memory of Doing Re-shots for the Movie With His Mother Gena Rowlands
Meanwhile, Nick Cassavetes also recalled a “bittersweet” memory of working with his mother Gena Rowlands on The Notebook set. The production executives had asked to do some reshoots, stating Rowlands needed to cry more.
“She said, ‘Let me get this straight. We’re reshooting because of my performance?'” he recalled. “We go to reshoots, and now it’s one of those things where mama’s pissed and I had asked her, ‘Can you do it, mom?’ She goes, ‘I can do anything.’”
True to her word, Gena Rowlands did her The Notebook reshoot on the first take. “I promise you, on my father’s life, this is true,” Cassavetes said. “Teardrops came flying out of her eyes when she saw [James Garner], and she burst into tears. And I was like, okay, well, we got that… It’s the one time I was in trouble on set.”
Cassavetes added that he is proud of the film he and his mother made together. “It’s always a shock to hear that as much time has gone by as it has,” he admitted. “But it makes sense. I’m just happy that it exists. It seems to have worked and I’m very proud of it.”
The Notebook was released on June 25, 2004 and scored $117.8 million at the box office. Also starring with Rowlands in the film were Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams, and James Garner.