The 2004 romantic drama The Notebook featured Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams in the lead roles, but now we’ve learned what other actors were potentially going to star in it–and they are big names.
The Notebook focuses on two lovers, Noah and Allie, and the story takes place across two timelines–one when they are young and the other when they are elderly. George Clooney told Entertainment Weekly that he was originally attached to play the young Noah, the role that Gosling eventually got, with Paul Newman set to portray the older Noah.
“I was going to do a movie years ago called The Notebook, that Ryan Gosling actually did, and I was going to do it with Paul Newman. “I was playing the flashback and Paul Newman was the old guy.”
We don’t know who was going to play the young and old Allie in this version of the film. It was previously reported that Britney Spears auditioned for Allie, and she even had a screen test with Gosling. Jessica Biel and Reese Witherspoon were also in the running for the young Allie.
In the movie that was released, James Garner plays the older Noah, with Gena Rowlands portraying the elderly Allie. The Notebook was directed by Nick Cassavetes, who is Rowlands’ son.
