49 Fun Facts About The Notebook

Who plays the young Noah Calhoun?

The director wanted someone unknown and 'not handsome'; the actor's first reaction to being offered the part was 'He's crazy.'

Who plays the young Allie Hamilton?

Rachel McAdams plays young Allie, cast after a nationwide search, in the same year (2004) she played Regina George in Mean Girls.

Who directed The Notebook?

He cast his own mother, Gena Rowlands, as the older Allie, and his wife Heather Wahlquist as Allie's friend Sara.

The film is based on the debut novel of which author?

Nicholas Sparks wrote The Notebook, his first published novel, in six months in 1994, inspired by his wife's grandparents, who had been married more than 60 years.

In what year is the couple's summer romance set?

The story then follows them through the war years to 1946, which the lead actor called a 'profound and formative' span to play.

In which state is Seabrook Island, where Noah and Allie meet, located?

Seabrook Island is a real South Carolina town about 20 miles southwest of Charleston; the film was shot around Charleston and Mount Pleasant rather than on Seabrook itself.

Where does Noah work when he first meets Allie?

Noah works at the local lumber mill alongside his friend Fin; Allie rushes to the mill to find him the morning her family leaves, but he is out.

Where does Noah threaten to drop from unless Allie agrees to a date?

Noah climbs into Allie's Ferris wheel car and dangles from the bar, threatening to let go unless she agrees to go out with him.

Which New York school is Allie due to attend at the end of the summer?

The campus that briefly appears on screen is actually the College of Charleston.

What is the name of the abandoned house Noah dreams of restoring?

Noah calls the ruin the old Windsor Plantation and promises Allie he will restore it: a white house with blue shutters and a room where she can paint.

For how long does Noah write to Allie every day after she leaves?

Noah writes Allie one letter a day for a year, 365 letters in all, none of which reaches her until years later.

Who intercepts Noah's letters so they never reach their intended reader?

Allie's mother, Anne Hamilton, hides all 365 letters; she later confesses she once loved a working-class man herself and shows Allie the man she gave up.

Noah's friend Fin is killed in which World War II engagement?

Fin is killed in the Battle of the Bulge, the German winter offensive launched in the Ardennes in December 1944, while serving alongside Noah in Europe.

Who plays Fin, Noah's best friend?

Kevin Connolly plays Fin; he went on to play Eric 'E' Murphy on Entourage, which premiered on HBO in July 2004, a month after The Notebook.

Allie meets her fiancé Lon Hammond Jr. while doing what during the war?

Allie spends the war nursing wounded soldiers as a volunteer aide and there meets Lon Hammond Jr., a wounded soldier who is also a young lawyer from old Southern money.

Who plays Lon Hammond Jr.?

James Marsden plays Lon Hammond Jr.; Marsden was already known as Cyclops in the X-Men films, the second of which (X2) opened the year before The Notebook.

What causes Allie to faint while trying on her wedding dress?

The picture shows the plantation house Noah has finished rebuilding, and it sends her back to Seabrook alone.

How is Noah able to afford to buy the plantation house after the war?

His father dies soon after, and Noah begins the repairs alone.

Who plays Noah's father, Frank Calhoun?

Sam Shepard plays Frank Calhoun; Shepard was also a Pulitzer-winning playwright (Buried Child, 1979) and an Oscar nominee for The Right Stuff.

Who plays Anne Hamilton, the parent who bans Allie from dating Noah?

Joan Allen plays Anne Hamilton; Allen was already a three-time Oscar nominee (Nixon, The Crucible, The Contender) when she took the role.

In the nursing home, the elderly Noah reads to Allie under what pseudonym?

Noah calls himself 'Duke' so as not to frighten Allie, whose dementia has erased him; only briefly does she realise that Duke is her Noah.

Whose journal is the notebook that the elderly Noah reads aloud?

Allie wrote the notebook herself as her memory began to fail, inscribing it 'Read this to me, and I'll come back to you'; Noah keeps that promise every day.

Which standard do Noah and Allie dance to as 'their song' when she briefly recognises him?

The moment passes quickly; her dementia returns and she panics at the sight of him.

How does the film end for Noah and Allie?

In the novel Noah suffers a stroke rather than the heart attack shown in the film, and the ending is left more open.

Who plays the elderly Noah?

James Garner plays the elderly Noah; the role earned him a 2005 Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor.

Gena Rowlands, who plays the elderly Allie, has what relationship to the film's director?

She won Best Supporting Actress in a Drama at the Golden Satellite Awards for the part.

Which director wanted to make the film in 1998 with Tom Cruise as Noah?

Steven Spielberg was set to direct in 1998 with Tom Cruise as Noah, but his other commitments got in the way; two more directors came and went before the job was filled in 2002.

Early in development, which actor was set to play Noah, with Paul Newman as the older version?

George Clooney was set to play young Noah opposite Paul Newman; after watching Newman's old films he decided he could never pass as a young Newman and dropped out.

Who composed the film's orchestral score?

Aaron Zigman composed the score for The Notebook, his breakthrough film assignment; he went on to score Sex and the City (2008) and The Proposal (2009).

To prepare for the role, the actor playing young Noah spent two months in Charleston doing what?

His co-star, meanwhile, took ballet and etiquette classes and worked with a dialect coach on the Southern accent.

Which real Lowcountry plantation served as Allie's summer house?

The nursing-home scenes were shot at Rice Hope Plantation in Georgetown County.

Which cinematographer shot The Notebook?

French cinematographer Robert Fraisse shot The Notebook; his earlier credits include Seven Years in Tibet (1997) and Enemy at the Gates (2001).

Which studio released The Notebook in June 2004?

New Line Cinema released The Notebook on June 25, 2004; the studio had held the film rights since 1996, the year the novel came out.

Roughly how much did The Notebook gross worldwide against a budget of about $29M?

The Notebook grossed about $118 million worldwide on a $29 million budget, opening only fourth in its first weekend before growing into a sleeper hit on word of mouth.

Gosling and McAdams won which prize at the 2005 MTV Movie Awards?

The kiss in the rain was ranked number four on Total Film's list of the 50 best movie kisses.

Which film beat The Notebook to number one on its June 2004 opening weekend?

Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 topped the June 25–27, 2004 weekend with about $24 million, the first documentary ever to open at number one; The Notebook finished fourth.

In 2019 UK Netflix subscribers noticed the film had been supplied with what?

In February 2019 UK Netflix viewers found a lighter alternate ending that cut away to birds over a lake; Netflix said the version had been supplied in error and restored the original.

How much was the advance the novelist's agent secured for the book in 1995?

Agent Theresa Park pulled the manuscript from her agency's slush pile and in 1995 secured a $1 million advance from Warner Books for the then-unknown author.

Which singer-songwriter wrote the music and lyrics for the stage musical of The Notebook?

Ingrid Michaelson wrote the music and lyrics for The Notebook musical, with a book by playwright Bekah Brunstetter; it opened on Broadway in March 2024.

Where on Broadway did the musical open in March 2024?

The Notebook musical opened at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre in March 2024 after a pre-Broadway run at Chicago Shakespeare Theater in autumn 2022.

Gosling and McAdams were a real-life couple for how many years after making the film?

He has been with his The Place Beyond the Pines co-star Eva Mendes since 2011.

Which two writers share the screenplay credit for The Notebook?

Jeremy Leven holds the screenplay credit and Jan Sardi the adaptation credit; Sardi had earlier been Oscar-nominated for writing Shine (1996).

Which director was in talks to helm The Notebook in 2001?

Martin Campbell, who went on to direct Casino Royale (2006), was in talks in 2001; Jim Sheridan had been attached in 1999 after Spielberg's other commitments pulled him away.

What classes did Rachel McAdams take in Charleston to prepare for playing Allie?

Rachel McAdams moved to Charleston early and took ballet and etiquette classes, plus dialect coaching for Allie's Southern accent, to carry herself like a 1940s society girl.

Where in South Carolina is the private house that Noah restores actually located?

The house Noah rebuilds is a private home on Wadmalaw Island, a rural sea island southwest of Charleston; the crew dressed it to look derelict for the early scenes.

Which campus appears on screen as Allie's New York college?

The College of Charleston stood in for Allie's New York college; Cypress Gardens near Moncks Corner supplied the swan-filled waterways for the rowing scene.

Which prize did Gena Rowlands win for playing the elderly Allie?

James Garner was nominated at the SAG Awards for his supporting turn as the elderly Noah.

Roughly how many DVD copies had The Notebook sold by February 2010?

The Notebook had sold more than 11 million DVD copies by February 2010, five years after its February 2005 home-video release; it reached Blu-ray in May 2010.

Who played the Older Allie and Older Noah when the Broadway musical opened in March 2024?

Maryann Plunkett and Dorian Harewood played Older Allie and Older Noah, the eldest of the show's three pairs of leads; both were Tony-nominated for the roles in 2024.