“The Notebook” star Gena Rowlands has Alzheimer’s disease, according to the screen legend’s son Nick Cassavetes, who also directed the film.
Cassavetes, 65, acknowledged the cruel irony of his Oscar-nominated mother being “in full dementia,” much like older Allie, her character in the adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ romantic drama.
“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,” Cassavetes told Entertainment Weekly while celebrating the film’s 20th anniversary.
“Now, for the last five years, she’s had Alzheimer’s. She’s in full dementia,” he continued. “It’s so crazy — we lived it, she acted it, and now it’s on us.”
The “Woman Under the Influence” star isn’t the first in the family to contend with the disease, from which her mother, actress Lady Rowlands, also suffered.
The younger Rowlands told O Magazine in 2004 that playing Allie “was particularly hard” because of her personal connection to the disease.
“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,” she said at the time. “It was a tough but wonderful movie.”
“The Notebook,” centered on a pair of 1940s lovers forced to battle class differences, helped acquaint younger audiences with Rowlands, as well as James Garner — who plays the older version of Ryan Gosling’s Noah. Rachel McAdams portrays the younger version of Allie.
But much of Rowlands’ best-known roles stem from her collaborations with Cassavetes’ father, independent film pioneer John Cassavetes.
In addition to “A Woman Under the Influence” and “Gloria,” both of which earned Rowlands Academy Award nominations, the couple’s 10-film collaboration included the likes of Oscar-nominated “Faces” and “Opening Night.”
Rowland and Cassavetes were married from 1954 until the latter’s death in 1989. They also shared two daughters, Alexandra and Zoe, who followed in their parents’ footsteps as actors and directors.
