The Notebook remains one of the greatest love stories to date, even almost twenty years after its initial release. The film follows two timelines, one of a young Allie (Rachel McAdams) and Noah (Ryan Gosling) as their relationship blossoms, falls apart, and comes back together. This story is framed by that of older Allie (Gena Rowlands) and Noah (James Garner) now living in a nursing home, where Allie suffers from dementia and Noah reads her the story of their relationship. The iconic tearjerker by Nicholas Sparks remains a staple in the romance genre and was so perfectly cast it can be hard to imagine anyone else in the roles. After all, who else could capture the steamy passion of that rain kiss better than Gosling and McAdams? It just doesn’t feel like it would work any other way. But as it turns out, the film almost looked completely different, with some actors you may not expect having been lined up to portray the characters — George Clooney, Paul Newman, and Britney Spears.
