Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams played the iconic couple of Noah and Allie in the film adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ 1986 novel, The Notebook. Interestingly, the couple dated in real life too, from 2005 to 2007 and later, for a brief period in 2008.
What transpired in their relationship remains a question mark, but it was common knowledge among The Notebook fans that the actors didn’t always get along.
According to reports, there were shouting matches between the two on set. These allegations were later confirmed by the director of the movie, Nick Cassavetes, who shared that at one point, Ryan Gosling wanted to remove Rachel McAdams from the movie.
The Feud Between Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams On The Notebook Set
As Nick Cassavetes recalled, during one scene in the film, Ryan Gosling wanted to replace Rachel McAdams with another actress for a reading. Apparently, the fight stemmed from their interpretations of their respective characters and how McAdams chose to portray Allie.
When Cassavetes asked about the issue, the Drive actor expressed his frustration by saying that he couldn’t film the scene with The Vow actress, as he was “not getting anything from this”. In an interview, Cassavetes told VH1 (via EW):
“And 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.’”
However, neither the director nor the producer could afford to lose their lead actors. The two actors had a meeting in a separate room with the director and the producer present. However, they exchanged heated words and vented their issues, prompting the director to leave them to sort out their issues.
Although everything wasn’t perfect after the meeting, Cassavetes felt that things improved between the actors. He shared with VH1:
“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.”
When the Blue Valentine actor eventually realized his mistake, he had nothing but praises to shower upon the Wedding Crashers actress. Eventually, the fight turned into a romance between the two actors.
Ryan Gosling Admitted His Mistake As He Called The Actress Inspiring
Long after their feud and the release of The Notebook, Ryan Gosling ran into Rachel McAdams in New York. When asked about his romance with the Doctor Strange actress in an interview, The Nice Guys actor revealed that they had come to realize they were wrong about each other. The Crazy, Stupid, Love actor shared with The Guardian:
“I don’t know what happened. Two years later I saw her in New York and we started getting the idea that maybe we were wrong about each other.”
However, the feud seemed to have ended long before their romance even began. At the premiere of The Notebook, Gosling called his co-star inspiring and compared her to her character in the movie. The Blade Runner 2049 actor described McAdams as “a jolt of reality”. Gosling shared (via Rachel-McAdams.org):
“She was inspiring. You know, she’s just like Allie in the movie: She laughs like that, she talks like that. She’s elated one minute and devastated the next. She’s a very real person. You tend to forget what real people are in this business but she was a jolt of reality, you know?”
Ryan Gosling maintained a close friendship with McAdams even after their romantic relationship ended. Gosling later entered into a relationship with actress Eva Mendes, and the couple has two children. McAdams is also in a relationship with screenwriter Jamie Linden, and they too have two kids.
The Notebook is available for rent on AppleTV+.
Source: EW, The Guardian, Rachel-McAdams.org
