Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams starrer The Notebook has marked quite a prominence in the Hollywood romance genre. The 2004 movie, adapted from Nicholas Sparks’ novel of the same name, brings a steamy romance on screen that sparked in the 1940s.
Gosling and his fellow Canadian co-star, McAdams’ chemistry in the film was a remarkable factor in the success of the movie. Both the stars have done wonders on screen bringing the sparks of the novel throughout the runtime of the film. However, there are some incidents that happened backstage that stirred quite a buzz, which includes the director’s comment on Gosling.
The Notebook Director Insulted Ryan Gosling
Whether Ryan Gosling is handsome or not, that’s a topic for another debate. But The Notebook director, Nick Cassavetes was looking for a regular and typical guy as a male lead in the film. And for the director, Gosling was the perfect choice as he thought The Place Beyond the Pines actor was not handsome like mainstream Hollywood handsome heartthrobs.
Talking to the British magazine Company in 2012, Gosling revealed that he starred in the movie only because the director thought he was not cute. “The director, Nick Cassavetes, called me to meet him at his house,” Gosling told the magazine.
“When I got there, he was standing in his back yard, and he looked at me and said, ‘I want you to play this role because you’re not like the other young actors out there in Hollywood. You’re not handsome, you’re not cool, you’re just a regular guy who looks a bit nuts.”
Gosling was just a rising star at the time of casting for the movie and that was kind of bittersweet for the actor as on the one hand he was getting a remarkable role, on the other he was insulted right in his face. But the actor committed to the role to bring out his best, which eventually made him a star in the industry.
Ryan Gosling’s Commitment to His Role in The Notebook
Gosling played Noah in the 2004 World War II drama. In the film, Noah builds his own house, and to prepare for that, Gosling apprenticed with a cabinetmaker in Charleston for about two months. In 2004, the Drive actor told People about how he prepared for the house-building soldier’s role in the film.
“I apprenticed with a cabinetmaker in Charleston for about two months. We made all the Adirondack chairs in front of the house.”
The actor further revealed that he made the two chairs that appear in the movie where his character Noah, and his love interest, Rachel McAdams’ Allie, used to sit on the front porch of the house. He also made the table on which their characters had steamy romantic moments.
“We sat in them a lot. And we shot a scene where Rachel and I consummate our relationship on a table I made. But I couldn’t keep it. We used a special wood, and the deal was [the cabinetmaker] got the table. But he doesn’t know what happened on it.”
As per reports, Gosling also had to hide his real blue eyes by wearing brown contacts to match James Garner’s brown eyes, who played the older version of Noah in the film.
Certainly, it was a movie for Golsing that pushed his career to a whole new level, but he also seems to remember the awkward moments he had with the director.
Source: Insider
