‘Notebook’ Star Gena Rowlands Battling Alzheimer’s After Onscreen Portrayal

Gena Rowlands — most well-known from “The Notebook” — is unfortunately battling Alzheimer’s illness … a heartbreaking replace after she portrayed a key character with the identical illness.

The actress’ son and ‘Notebook’ director Nick Cassavetes shared the information Tuesday with Entertainment Weekly — this whereas celebrating the twentieth anniversary of his beloved and iconic romance flick … which he directed and his mom starred in as Allie in previous age.

NC says … “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. She’s in full dementia. And it’s so crazy — we lived it, she acted it, and now it’s on us.”

Keep in mind … the massive display adaptation of the Nicholas Sparks‘ romance novel starred James Garner as Duke, a resident in a nursing dwelling telling Gena’s Allie a love story … which in fact additionally starred Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams.

By the top of the movie, it is revealed that Duke is definitely the older model of Ryan’s Noah character … and he is making an attempt to assist older Allie regain her recollections.

It is a tearjerker, to say the least … and with this newest real-life twist, doubly so.

Whereas “The Notebook” could also be hitting a bit too near dwelling for Gena and her family members, Nick instructed the outlet he is happy with their flick … and that it nonetheless holds up 2 many years later.

He continued … “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. It seems to have worked and I’m very proud of it.”

Gena — the daughter of actress Woman Rowlands, who was additionally identified with Alzheimer’s earlier than her loss of life — earned 4 Emmy awards, 2 Golden Globes, and a pair of Oscar nominations earlier than retiring in 2015.

She collaborated along with her filmmaker husband, John Cassavetes, on quite a few events — together with on “A Woman Under the Influence” and “Gloria.”