The Notebook author Nicholas Sparks sends ‘prayers’ to Gena Rowlands

The Notebook author Nicholas Sparks has said his ‘thoughts and prayers’ are with Gena Rowlands after her Alzheimer’s diagnosis was revealed. 

Gena, 94, played the older version of Rachel McAdams‘ Allie in the film adaptation of Sparks’ book The Notebook, and her character battled dementia on-screen.

Taking to X, Sparks, 58, shared a post reflecting on Gena’s performance in the 2004 romance film as he described what an ‘honor’ it was to work with the actress. 

‘Alzheimer’s is such a cruel disease. On days like today, I’m reminded of Gena’s powerful portrayal of Allie and the depth she brought to the character. Her performance touched millions of hearts and helped bring my story to life in ways I never imagined. 

‘I’m truly honored to have worked with such a talented artist, and my thoughts and prayers are with Gena, Nick and their family during this challenging time. I will always cherish her legacy in film and her impact on The Notebook.’ 

Accompanying the tweet was a photo of Rowland and her son Nick Cassavetes, who directed The Notebook, on the set of the film. 

The tweet was shared the same day Gena’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis was revealed. Her son Nick announced her health battle with Entertainment Weekly. 

Emmy and Golden Globe winner Rowlands has had the disease for five years, and is now ‘in full dementia,’ according to her devastated family. 

Cassavetes said: ‘I got my mom to play older Allie, and we spent a lot of time talking about Alzheimer’s and wanting to be authentic with it, and now, for the last five years, she’s had Alzheimer’s.

‘She’s in full dementia. And it’s so crazy — we lived it, she acted it, and now it’s on us.’ 

Although she had a decades-long career, Rowlands’s depiction of Old Allie in The Notebook made the movie a love story for the ages. 

Now, she’s facing the same battle that her character did.

The Notebook, based on Sparks’ 1996 novel, tells a poignant love story between working-class Noah and wealthy Allie, who fall deeply in love while defying societal differences.

The film cuts between the unlikely couple’s passionate youth and the present day, where an elderly Noah, disguised as ‘Duke,’ reads their story from a notebook to a fellow nursing home resident – his wife Allie (Gena Rowlands) now suffering from dementia.

To keep the spark alive and rekindle their romance in spite of her memory loss, Noah has been reading out of a notebook written by Allie in the beginning stages of her illness, detailing their love story so he can help her remember him.

In a 2004 interview with O Magazine, Rowlands opened up about how her mother’s struggle with the disease impacted her decision to play Allie.

‘I went through that with my mother, and if Nick hadn’t directed the film, I don’t think I would have gone for it — it’s just too hard. It was a tough but wonderful movie.’

Nick, reflecting on his experience directing his mother in ‘The Notebook’, shared a bittersweet memory with Entertainment Weekly. 

After showing the completed film to studio executives, they requested a reshoot. Specifically, they wanted Rowlands to display stronger emotions when her character rediscovers her memories and reunites with her love, Noah.

Cassavetes recounted the awkward moment of informing his mother about the reshoots, and she was not happy; ‘Let me get this straight. We’re reshooting because of my performance?’ she said.

‘We go to reshoots, and now it’s one of those things where mama’s pissed and I had asked her, ‘Can you do it, mom?’ She goes, ‘I can do anything,” Rowland’s son recalled. 

‘I promise you, on my father’s life, this is true: Teardrops came flying out of her eyes when she saw [Garner], and she burst into tears. And I was like, okay, well, we got that … It’s the one time I was in trouble on set.’

Cassavetes said he is not only proud of the film’s success, cemented as a romance ‘cult classic’ for the past 20 years – he also looks backs warmly at the times he shared with his mother on set.

‘It’s always a shock to hear that as much time has gone by as it has, but it makes sense. I’m just happy that it exists,’ he says, adding, ‘It seems to have worked and I’m very proud of it.’ 

Wisconsin-born Rowlands dazzled on the big screen and stage for seven decades before retiring from her stellar career in 2014, at the age of 84. 

Many of her best performances were in collaboration with her actor-director husband John Cassavetes, who died in 1989 – notably A Woman Under the Influence (1974) and Gloria (1980).

She also starred in Woody Allen’s film Another Woman (1988), where she played the philosophy professor Marion Post who becomes fascinated with a psychiatric patient named Hope.