Here’s the real reason why casting directors chose Ryan Gosling for the lead role in The Notebook.
It may be difficult to imagine anyone resisting a lead role in The Notebook but, apparently Hollywood men were not happy about playing the role of Noah in the movie.
According to Nicholas Sparks, he had a hard time casting the role because, actors found Noah’s character arc boring.
“It was really interesting because a lot of the actors said, ‘Well, what’s Noah’s arc?” Sparks explained in a recent IMDB interview. “It’s a guy who falls in love and then he just kinda does nothing, and then waits for her to show up, and then he’s there and he’s still in love and then at the end of the film, well, he’s still in love. Where’s the arc?”
Thankfully, Ryan Gosling would pick up the lead role. Sparks remarks, “came in and…really brought that story to life.”
Part of Ryan Gosling’s appeal, the actor told Company magazine five years ago, was that he lacked the glamour and sexiness of more popular actors.
“[Director] Nick Cassavetes called me to meet him at his house. When I got there, he was standing in his backyard, and he looked at me and said, ‘I want you to play this role because you’re not like the other young actors out there in Hollywood. You’re not handsome, you’re not cool, you’re just a regular guy who looks a bit nuts.’”
That’s pretty charming.
The Huffington Post reports that the CW is planning “a small screen adaptation of the film” to be released in the near future.
