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Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling were famously born within two years of each other in London and took very different paths before co-starring in a 2004 Hollywood hit that launched their careers, The Notebook, and sparked an off-screen romance.
Gosling wasn’t in London for long, spending most of his childhood in Cornwall and becoming a star at age 12 by joining the Mickey Mouse Club before breaking into adult film roles in the early 2000s en route to superstardom.
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McAdams was raised by nurse Sandra and trucker Lance in St. Thomas. She started acting at Original Kids Theatre in London, graduated from Central Elgin collegiate and then York University in 2001 – and within two years she was starring in Hollywood films.
They were brought together by The Notebook, a blockbuster romance released in June 2004. But 20 years later, it’s become clear the love story wasn’t continuing away from the cameras, according to director Nick Cassavetes.
“Maybe I’m not supposed to tell this story, but they were really not getting along one day on set. Really not,” Cassavetes said in 2014, comments resurfacing as he apologizes for making them on the film’s 20th anniversary.
At one point, Cassavetes said, Gosling asked for his co-star to be replaced by another actress while he was performing his half of a tense scene. He described the two stars “screaming and yelling at each other” and that “things got better after that” on the set.
In a recent Entertainment Weekly interview, Cassavetes expressed regret for revealing the on-set conflict. “I shouldn’t have spilled the beans.”
The tension didn’t affect the film – it made $118 million on a $29-million budget – or Gosling and McAdams, who dated for two years until 2007. Since then, she’s been nominated for a 2015 Oscar, and he’s been nominated for three (2007, 2017, 2024).
Gosling has been married to actress Eva Mendes since 2011. McAdams has two children with screenwriter Jamie Linden.
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