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Gena Rowlands, who played the older version of Allie in ‘The Notebook’, has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease, her son, director, and actor Nick Cassavetes reveals. As reported by Entertainment Weekly, the Hollywood legend has lived with Alzheimer's for "the last five years."
The director reflected on the impact and popularity of the movie on the 20th anniversary of the blockbuster, starring Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams. "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," he said to the publication.
The 93-year-old star previously talked about her family's experience with the disease, as her grandmother, actress Lady Rowlands, also lived through it. "This last one — The Notebook, based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks — was particularly hard because I play a character who has Alzheimer's," she said in 2004 to O Magazine.
"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," she stated.
"She's in full dementia. And it's so crazy — we lived it, she acted it, and now it's on us," the director said. "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 said about the movie, adding, "It seems to have worked and I'm very proud of it."