The Notebook Could've Been Very Different If This Pop Star Didn't Refuse the Role
Albeit largely panned by critics, The Notebook (2004) was one of the most successful romantic dramas of 2000s.
Now it is difficult for the fans of the movie to imagine anyone other than Rachel McAdams as Allie Hamilton. But there was a time, when a different actress was considered for the leading female role.
That actress was Jessica Simpson, who is best known as a singer, and only got her first notable movie role a bit later, starring as Daisy in the movie version of The Dukes of Hazzard (2005).
Still, at early 2000s Simpson already had a sizeable following among teens and young adults. Her acting abilities were unproven, but some movie scripts of the time were written with someone just like her in mind, and one of these scripts was the script for The Notebook.
It was adapted from Nicholas Sparks' book of the same name by the author himself. Sparks' first adaptation, A Walk To Remember, was a major success. So studio executives had high expectations from The Notebook, and wanted someone beautiful and popular for the female lead. Simpson was the perfect fit.
She was offered the role of Allie in 2002, and while she was not the only candidate, she was on the short list of those asked to audition for the film. For someone who had yet to debut in movies, this was a major opportunity. However, she declined, because of one scene.
As Jessica Simpson explained in her new memoir, Open Book, "I knew exactly what the movie was about because I had read the script but turned it down because they wouldn't budge on taking out the sex scene."
"And it would have been with Ryan Gosling, of all people," she added.
Ryan Gosling, who played Duke Calhoun in The Notebook, was Jessica Simpson's old (and entirely one-sided) crush, if you wonder.
The decision must have been difficult, particularly as later Simpson called The Notebook "the most romantic movie in the world". But she stuck to her principles, at that moment and thereafter – she turned down a number of projects because they contained intimate scenes.