Canadian actor Ryan Gosling grew to be a household name with his portrayal of Noah Calhoun opposite Rachel McAdams’ Allison Calhoun in Nick Cassavetes’ The Notebook. The movie based on Nicholas Sparks’ 1996 novel of the same name opened up to mixed responses from the audience and the critics.
Over the years, the movie has attained the status of being one of the cult classics, with Gosling and McAdams’ fans never forgetting to appreciate their performances in the movie. Ryan Gosling, in a re-surfaced interview, mentioned that he was finalized for the role even though Hayden Christensen was the first choice.
Ryan Gosling revealed Nick Cassavetes told him he had no leading man qualities
Incredibly good-looking actor Ryan Gosling, who not only performed exceptionally well in Nick Cassavetes’ 2004’s The Notebook as Noah but also managed to make a space for himself in the minds of the viewers, But his good looks weren’t the reason why he was picked for the role. In a re-surfaced interview from back in the day, Gosling revealed the real reason why he was finalized to play Noah. He said,
“He sent me the script, and I read it, and I thought he was crazy, and I met with him [Nick Cassavetes] and said, Nikki, you know, come on, this is not the face of a romantic lead, and he said, ‘I know that’s why you got to do it.’”
Gosling further added that the reply from the director confused him, but the director explained to him that he wanted the audience to feel the honesty when Allison says to Noah that she loves him. Cassavetes noted that he wanted the audience to know that she was in for the right reasons and not for the looks.
“He’s said, ‘Anyone’s gonna fall in love with Brad Pitt. You, who’s gonna fall in love with you?’ I thought, Yeah, that’s mean, but you don’t need to say that.”
Gosling said they started talking about the movie, and he understood the point and said okay. In his GQ profile, Ryan Gosling once again touched upon his casting for The Notebook and recalled that the director had straight-up told him that the fact that he did not have natural leading man qualities was the reason why he was perfect for the role.
Ryan Gosling says he had no idea his lines from The Notebook would acquire iconic status
In his interview with MTV News’ Josh Horowitz, asked him about his iconic line from the movie: ‘If I’m a bird, you’re a bird.’ To which Gosling admitted that he did not think that the line was going to spark joy, as it didn’t spark joy in him. The actor added,
“I said it, and somehow, you know, it did. You don’t know. You think you do, but you don’t know.”
Nick Cassavetes, in his interview with VH1, shared that when he told New Line Cinema that he wanted to cast Ryan Gosling for the lead part, they looked at him as if he were out of his mind. He also went on to reveal that they faced challenges with filming as the lead actors did not get along.
Gosling and Cassavetes knew that Rachel McAdams was the one right from her audition, as the actor explained (via CheatSheet) that when she came in for the audition, she was the only one who didn’t have questions for them. He recalled that she refused to talk about her and focused on her appearance, so she wiped the tears off her face and left, which is when they knew that she was the one. Reports have suggested that Britney Spears also auditioned for the part of Allison before McAdams was finalized.
The director in his interview with VH1 had shared that despite them not getting along, they were both committed to their characters and noted that both Gosling and McAdams are terrific actors and he would like to work with them again.
The Notebook is streaming on Hulu.
