ACTRESS Gena Rowlands, who became instantly recognized by a new generation of fans for her role in the 2004 film The Notebook after a decades-long career in Hollywood, has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.
Gena’s son, director and actor Nick Cassavetes, shared the news with Entertainment Weekly on Tuesday.
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“I got my mom to play the 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,” Gena’s son said. told the outlet.
“She has full-blown dementia. And it’s so crazy – we lived through it, she took action and now it’s on us,” Nick added.
Gena played Allie Hamilton, who also battled the disease, in the 2004 film.
Young Allie was played by Mean Girls star Rachel McAdams.
Read more about Gena Rowlands
A TRUE LOVE STORY
Viewers watched the love story of Allie and her boyfriend Noah Calhoun (Ryan Gosling) unfold in the film, based on Nicholas Spark’s romance novel of the same name.
James Garner played old Noah, who repeatedly retold the story of how they fell in love with his sick wife.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the film’s release.
After the film’s premiere, Gena revealed that the role hit close to home, as her mother also had Alzheimer’s disease.
“This last one was particularly difficult because I play a character who has Alzheimer’s,” Gena shared. interview with O magazine.
“I went through this with my mother, and if Nick hadn’t directed the film, I don’t think I would have done it – it’s very difficult. It was a difficult but wonderful film,” she admitted.
Although Gena captivated a younger audience with her starring role in The Notebook, she was already known to many others for her work.
After appearing in several TV series in the 1950s and 1960s, the Wisconsin native made her film debut in 1958’s The High Cost of Loving.
Four years later, she starred in Lonely Are the Brave alongside Kirk Douglas and Walter Matthau.
Gena and her late first husband, John Cassavetes, also made nearly a dozen films together from the early 1960s to the early 1980s.
She has full dementia. And it’s so crazy – we lived it, she took action and now it’s on us.
Gena Rowland’s son, Nick Cassavetes
John – the father of her three children, Nick, Alexandra and Zoe, all actors/directors – died in 1989.
In 2012, Gena married her current husband, Robert Forrest.
GREAT CAREER VICTORIES
Gena has made an impressive mark in her career, winning four Emmy Awards and two Golden Globes.
Her last film role was in the 2014 comedy Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks, opposite Cheyenne Jackson.
In 2005, the TV star won the Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress in The Notebook.
The film grossed $117 million at the box office against its $29 million budget and remains a cult classic to this day.
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