The love for The Notebook still isn’t over. The movie, based on Nicholas Sparks’ 1996 bestseller, is celebrating its 20th anniversary on June 25, 2024. Allie Hamilton (Rachel McAdams) and Noah Calhoun’s (Ryan Gosling) love story is just as beloved as it was two decades ago.
From dreamy quotes like “if you’re a bird, I’m a bird” to that rain kiss that set the bar so high for future onscreen lip locks, The Notebook became an instant romance classic and catapulted McAdams and Gosling to stardom.
TV Insider spoke with Sparks about the film’s major milestone, the “undeniable” chemistry between McAdams and Gosling, the shelved TV series, and if he’d ever want to see the movie (available to own now on digital) be remade. Plus, he teased his next book, Counting Miracles, which will be released on September 24. Scroll down for our full conversation.
Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams in ‘The Notebook.’ (New Line / Everett Collection)
Why do you think audiences, whether it’s book readers or Broadway patrons or movie lovers, are so drawn to The Notebook?
Nicholas Sparks: There’s a lot of reasons. I suppose the people who are drawn to it would be better to ask than me, but my assumptions are that there’s something about the mixture of originality and universality to the story that came together in exactly the right way. And by that, I mean it’s a story about first love. It’s a story about potentially being with someone from the opposite side of the tracks. It’s a story about decisions and who you want to be with for the rest of your life. At the same time, it’s a story that shows unconditional love. None of these themes are original, and they’re all universal, but it was that magic combination between the two in just the right doses, done in just the right way, that made it the kind of novel or film or show that people want to see again and again.
How involved were you in the film adaptation of The Notebook?
My level of involvement was about the same as it is for most of the projects that I work on in that it’s done early on before the filming starts, i.e. getting the right team in place and making sure the script is as good as it can possibly be, and finally, choosing a director that has the vision that myself and the producers believe will work for the film. Much of my work was done between the years of 1995 and when they started filming it, I think around 2002 or something like that. The script went through two different writers and numerous revisions, and we debated three other directors before we finally decided on Nick Cassavetes and knew that he was the one who had the right vision to bring this show to life. And that’s where my work comes in because, in the end, everything after that I don’t have much say in. The film is generally going to follow the director’s vision within the studio’s budget, and I was neither the director nor the studio. Of course, it comes down to the actors and how they play their roles. Again, that’s beyond my pay grade to tell an actor how to do their job.
Did the team come to you about Rachel and Ryan playing Allie and Noah?
Each and every time I was in on every single decision, from the selection of the director to the cast. With that said, it’s important to know that I am just one voice in the room. Producers have input, the studio has input, the director has input. Once Ryan had been cast, he had input, and that’s the way it traditionally works. So I’m one voice, but certainly, I had input into every one of those decisions.
What was it like seeing Rachel and Ryan together for the first time as these characters you created?
I think what most people remember about the film, and it’s why I think the film has become an iconic classic, you might say, is that the chemistry on camera between those two was undeniable. It fully captured the passion and intensity of young love, both as they’re getting to know each other and toward the end, where it doesn’t necessarily work out at the end of that first summer together. Both Ryan and Rachel are such dynamic performers and able to play such a range of roles. When they reappear, and it’s 10 years later, whatever the exact period of time that was, they were different than they’d been as younger people, but they were the same. And that was just a joy for me to watch onscreen.
Were there any other notable contenders in your eyes for Allie and Noah, or was it always those two?
Ryan came first. Both Ryan and Rachel were easy, easy decisions. Once we had Ryan on board, most of the young and up-and-coming actresses auditioned for the role, and Rachel was unique in that I think she’d gotten the pages the night before, and she was the only one that didn’t want to do a run through before filming or before putting it on camera. She was just like, “No, I’m ready. Let’s go.” As soon as you saw those two together, and you saw how great she was, you knew that she was Young Allie. And then you throw in the other cast. Of course, Nick Cassavetes had a fondness for Gena Rowlands, as you know. Everybody loves James Garner. He was Rockford from The Rockford Files. What a perfect choice for that, too. They filled in the remainder of the roles with really just the highest quality actors who can take small bits of dialogue and time onscreen and really make those characters come alive.
Were there any aspects of your book that you wish had been in the adaptation but didn’t make the cut?
They captured most of the major elements, I thought. The real interesting thing, and most people probably don’t realize this, was that the film and the novel were structured entirely differently. If you look at the novel, it was probably five percent or less Young Allie and Noah, probably 60 percent on the reunion, and the remaining 35 percent when they’re old. The film kind of flipped that on its head. I think it was close to 50 percent when they’re young, and then about 25 [percent] and 25 [percent], so it was different. But when you think back to what I did have in the novel about those elements, they pretty much captured everything from when Allie comes back and sees him, they have dinner together, her mom shows up, they have the letters, she cries in the car, Lon shows up, he’s a gentleman, and then toward the end with Noah and Allie. They captured all of those major elements.
A scene from ‘The Notebook’ featuring Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling. (New Line / Everett Collection)
Is there a scene from the movie that stands out to you?
I love the scene with the swans for a couple of reasons. Number one, it’s just an extraordinarily beautiful scene. It’s something that we hadn’t ever seen in film before, and it was neat the way they actually did it. I knew about that, so when you saw it onscreen, it was really wonderful. But basically, what they did was they got these little swans when they were babies, and the crew would row out in a boat and throw bread in. The swans learned to come to the boat, so when it came time to film, a few months later, here they come swimming. Of course, they put in the rest with the CGI or whatever. But hey, a lot of those swans were real and came to the boat. I just thought it was one of those movie magic moments, and it was just so beautiful. That scene culminates with the rain. She’s angry at him, and then there’s the great kiss. That whole period of the film is really quite extraordinary.
Would you be open to a remake of The Notebook?
I’d have to really think about that. Some films you can do remakes, for whatever reason. The remakes can work, but then other films just strike me as classically iconic. Like, that’s as well as it can be done. Whether you’re talking about, let’s say, Casablanca or Jaws, Unforgiven with Clint Eastwood, or The Godfather. If something is just so well done I don’t know why you want to remake it.
There was once a TV series of The Notebook in the works. What happened to it?
In 2016, I made the decision to pull away from television, essentially. It kind of went away, so to speak. Television was exciting, and it was interesting, but it was an awful lot of work and an awful lot of time. I had films, I had novels to write, I have five children, and there was just too much going on. Something had to go. I just made the decision of, why don’t we let the story of Allie and Noah exist in a novel and film? Around that time, as well, I decided the best way to move forward would be maybe to do a Broadway show, which is what we’ve done.
Would you be open to a TV series in the future?
Perhaps. I mean, it would be tough. There are questions. It’s like, what do we want to cover? Do we want to cover from the reunion until they’re old? How are people going to feel if it’s not Ryan and Rachel playing those roles? You say, okay, well, maybe it’s not just them. Maybe we focus more on their children. Okay, that’s another option. It’s complicated. I wouldn’t necessarily mind if it ended up getting made, as long as it was as high quality as the film.
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What was the inspiration behind your next book, Counting Miracles?
The original inspiration was an image I had in my head of an old man in the forest, and he’s hurt and his dog has to save him. It started with just that image, and I didn’t know what had happened to him. Was he in danger or not, or how close to death was he? Or what did the dog do? I didn’t know. I just had this image that I couldn’t escape, and then, as so many novels do, that image eventually combined with other ideas, and a full-throated novel eventually resulted. Novels are thousands and thousands of inspirations. Where’d you get this idea? Where’d you get that idea? Why is the sentence written this way? Why does the paragraph flow like that? Why does this one like puttanesca, but this one likes bolognese? The answers to any question or any inspiration comes from somewhere, and sometimes even I don’t know where it comes from.
Are you currently writing your next book?
I’m about a third of the way finished, and I will be happy when I get through the next couple of chapters. After the next couple of chapters, the novel will hopefully get easier. I intend it to become easier, but we shall see how that works. There are a lot of tricky elements and themes and realities and rules of writing that I’m trying to juggle, and it’s very much a challenge. This book is a challenge at the beginning. Some novels are challenging at the end. This one is where the challenge is really at the beginning. Once you get through that, the story should be able to begin to move much more quickly.
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