Gena Rowlands, who played character with Alzheimer's in The Notebook, has disease herself, reveals film's director

The Notebook star Gena Rowlands has been living with Alzheimer’s disease for the past five years, according to her son, director and actor Nick Cassavetes.

The 2004 movie classic, directed by Cassavetes, features Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams as a young couple who fall deeply in love despite facing obstacles of wealth and social class.

Their story is narrated years later by an elderly man, played by James Garner, to Rowlands, initially presented as another nursing home resident with dementia. It’s later revealed that Garner and Rowlands are actually the older, married versions of Gosling and McAdams' characters, sharing their enduring love story.

“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,” Cassavetes told Entertainment Weekly.

“She’s in full dementia. And it’s so crazy – we lived it, she acted it, and now it’s on us,” The Notebook director said of his 94-year-old mother.

In a 2004 interview with O Magazine, Rowlands revealed that her mother’s struggle with the same disease influenced her decision to take the role. Lady Rowlands died in 1999 age 95.

The Hollywood star shared at the time: “This last one – The Notebook was particularly hard because I play a character who has Alzheimer’s.

“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.”

Rowlands enjoyed an illustrious career across film, TV, and theatre. She received two Oscar nominations for her performances in the 1974 drama Woman Under the Influence and the 1980 film Gloria.

The screen star was married to filmmaker and actor John Cassavetes from 1954 until his death in 1989. They had three children together: Nick, Zoe and Alexandra "Xan" Cassavetes, who all work in the film industry. In 2012, Rowlands married retired businessman Robert Forrest.

Twenty years after The Notebook captivated audiences at the box office, Cassavetes reflected on the film and his collaboration with his mother.

He told the EW: “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 … It seems to have worked, and I’m very proud of it.”