It's one of the most romantic pairings in movie history, made more swoon-worthy by the fact stars Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling were going out in real life too. Adapted from the source novel of the same name, by Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook was released in 2004 and has become a worldwide phenomenon since. Regardless of how many movies get released in the meantime, there's a void that can only be filled by The Notebook.
Back in 2007, Gosling told GQ that his relationship with McAdams was actually more of a fairy-tale than that of their onscreen characters. "People do Rachel and me a disservice by assuming we were anything like the people in that movie," he explained. The actor, who played Noah, added of their four year long relationship, "Rachel and my love story is a hell of a lot more romantic than that." In spite of their clear affection for each other, however, the duo didn't get off to the best start.
The Notebook set was a complete warzone
In an interview with VH1, director Nick Cassavetes recalled how McAdams and Gosling were finding it so difficult on set that, "Ryan came to me, and there are 150 people standing in this big scene, and he says, 'Nick come here.' And 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?'" Cassavetes was stunned, particularly when Gosling told him, "I can't do it with her. I'm just not getting anything from this."
Sensing things were about to go south in a big way, the director took the warring duo into a room with a producer where McAdams and Gosling began "screaming and yelling at each other." Thankfully, a short while later, they emerged ready to work. "They had it out," Cassavetes explained, noting, "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." Clearly, that fiery passion bled into real life, with the actors enjoying a romance that still has fans swooning to this day.
