Notebook its not over. Notebook its not over

Why Do We Love The Notebook When It’s Glorifying A Dysfunctional Relationship?

“The Notebook” is a favorite among many hopeless romantics. It started my love for the romance genre when I first saw the movie as a teenager, and I still love it today. However, I do view the story differently as an adult.

The Notebook tells the story of Noah (Ryan Gosling) and Allie’s (Rachel McAdams) romance as it starts in the 1940s and shows them as an elderly couple in the 21st century. The story is an emotional rollercoaster but often gets heat because it doesn’t portray a healthy romance.

Dr. Nicole LePera, known as @theholisticpsyc on and @the.holistic.psychologist on Instagram, tweeted, “Allie and Noah have a highly dysfunctional (relationship) from the start. Noah threatens to plummet to his death off of a Ferris wheel if she won’t go on a date with him. Allie has told him no multiple times and instead of respecting her boundaries, he continues to pressure her. After they break up he writes her a letter every day (without any response) for a year, which could be considered stalking. Allie later betrays her husband by going to visit Noah without his awareness. Noah pressures her to choose him and accuses her of being a gold digger in the process. The notebook glamorizes love as possession. Conditioning us to see ‘the chase’ as exciting instead of what it actually is: unsafe.”

This post reminded me of a discussion that I had with a close guy friend a few years ago. After a family member convinced him to watch The Notebook for the first time, he texted me to ask why so many women love the movie because he couldn’t help but think it romanticized an unhealthy relationship. I explained to him that I can now clearly see the red flags of possessiveness and infidelity that I missed as a teenager, but I still love the movie as much as I did when I first saw it.

Despite knowing the story is flawed, why are we so obsessed with The Notebook?

We Love Stories of Redemption

Both Noah and Allie are deeply flawed characters. This makes them more realistic and easier to root for because we can see ourselves (both the good and the bad) in them. From Noah obsessing over Allie to Allie cheating on her fiancé, we see both of them make plenty of mistakes throughout their relationship, but eventually, they end up together and happy.

Though the romance is in the part of the story set in the mid-twentieth century, the modern timeline offers redemption. We see Noah and Allie as an elderly married couple with adult children and beautiful grandkids. Allie has Alzheimer’s, and Noah visits her at the nursing home to read her their love story that he kept in a notebook (you could possibly interpret this as him atoning for some of the mistakes he made early in their relationship) in hopes that she’ll remember him and the family they created. Seeing the beginning and the ending of Noah and Allie’s love story shows that they both redeemed themselves along the way and made a beautiful family together. It’s hard not to love a good redemption story, and Noah and Allie give us hope that even if we make mistakes, we can still have love and happiness.

We Love Seeing Couples Grow Old Together

Is there anything more romantic than a married couple growing old together? Whenever I see an older couple out in public (almost always at the bookstore), I always smile because I can’t help but think of how much they’ve been through together. Through the good and bad, they’ve made the conscious decision to stick it out because they truly love each other. To be honest, this aspect of the movie is my favorite part because it reminds me of how my grandparents loved each other until their last days.

Growing old together is the ultimate sign of a successful and happy marriage. It shows that Noah and Allie stuck by each other through thick and thin over the years, raised a family, and watched their children become parents. In the end, Noah loves Allie so much that he wants her to remember them as a couple in her final days as her battle with Alzheimer’s gets worse. His last wish is for her to remember him one last time. In the end (not sorry for the spoiler alert because who hasn’t seen The Notebook by now?), they die in each other’s arms. You could argue it’s a coincidence that they died together, but there’s something romantic about the thought that they couldn’t imagine living one single day without each other.

We Need Some Drama in Fictional Romances

Let’s be honest for a second: Most movies don’t have healthy romances. While outlining this article, I wrote down three of my favorite romantic movies that portray healthy relationships: Pride and Prejudice, The Big Sick, and My Big Fat Greek Wedding. I realized that what all three of these movies had in common is that although the relationships are healthy, a good chunk of the story is about the obstacles the couples have to go through to be together in the end. There’s a reason why these movies show conflict more than the romantic happy ending – it’s more interesting. Real life can be boring; therefore, we crave drama in our entertainment.

This made me think of another one of my favorite fictional couples, Chuck and Blair from Gossip Girl. We all know their relationship is unhealthy, but it’s impossible not to root for them. We watch them grow through the seasons and still want them to end up together even while they do horrible things to each other. We’re well aware that we’d be concerned if our friend was in a relationship like this, but we can root for them because we know it’s not real. The same goes for Noah and Allie in The Notebook because, in the end, it’s fiction. As long as we know it’s not real and is actually unhealthy IRL, there’s nothing wrong with rooting for these couples to end up together.

Closing Thoughts

Nearly two decades after its initial release, many of us still love The Notebook. It’s one of the most beloved romantic movies of this century, and it’s possible to enjoy it while acknowledging that it portrays a dysfunctional relationship. As long as we acknowledge that it’s fictional, there’s nothing wrong with enjoying the story.

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Ryan Gosling Stopped Mid-Scene In The Notebook And Asked The Director To Replace Rachel McAdams

Things weren’t the smoothest between Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams while shooting The Notebook.

The Notebook was one of the most popular romantic dramas of the early 2000s. Although the movie was not a commercial success when it first premiered back in 2004, with time it became one of the most popular romantic movies of all time.

And in the following decade, big studios would try to recreate The Notebook’s success with a flood of similar romantic movies.

Based on the 1996 Nicholas Sparks novel of the same name, The Notebook starred two lesser-known actors: Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams as Noah and Allie. Although these two actors played a pair of star-crossed lovers on screen, their off-screen relationship wasn’t so good at the beginning. In fact, Gosling asked the director to get rid of McAdams on more than one occasion.

How The Notebook Went From A Commercial Flop To A Widespread Phenomenon

Believe it or not, The Notebook was a sleeper hit. In fact, it was first outgrossed by the Wayans brothers’ comedy White Chicks, only making 13 million in the US on its opening weekend.

Then, slowly but surely, The Notebook gained more attention and ended up managing to gross out more than 117 million worldwide, becoming the 15th highest-grossing romantic drama film of all time.

The movie received mixed reviews from critics. According to Rotten Tomatoes, only 53 percent out of 179 critics gave the film a positive review, giving the film an overall average rating of 5.7 out of 10. Despite this, fans loved The Notebook.

Social media greatly helped The Notebook become such a widespread phenomenon. In 2005, the movie came out as a sleepover-friendly DVD, and soon enough, quotes, clips, and photos of the movie were all over MySpace. and even YouTube. The Notebook inspired countless pictures, GIFs, fan-made videos, and even a couple of memes. The hype grew so much that engagement photos inspired by The Notebook became a thing.

Ryan Gosling And Rachel McAdams Couldn’t Stand Each Other When They Filmed The Notebook

It’s no secret that Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams didn’t get along when they were filming The Notebook. Although both stars have never revealed what inspired their hatred for each other, they’ve talked about how hard it was to make this romantic movie together. ”’We inspired the worst in each other. It was a strange experience, making a love story and not getting along with your co-star in any way.” Gosling told The Guardian in 2007.

Their behind-the-scenes fighting was so bad that Gosling even went as far as asking the director, Nick Cassavetes, to replace Rachel McAdams mid-scene.

“They were really not getting along one day on set. Really not. And Ryan came to me, and there’s 150 people standing in this big scene, and he says, ‘Nick come here.’ And he’s doing a scene with Rachel and he says, ‘Would you take her out of here and bring in another actress to read off-camera with me?’ I said, ‘What?’ He says, ‘I can’t. I can’t do it with her. I’m just not getting anything from this,” Cassavetes revealed to VH1.

But despite their differences, both actors managed to keep working together and give life to one of the most beloved romantic movie couples of all time.

Despite Their Differences While Shooting The Notebook, Gosling And McAdams Dated For Two Years Once Filming Wrapped

Gosling and McAdams’ dislike for each other while filming The Notebook was no secret. This is why fans were surprised to learn the actors started dating two years after filming wrapped.

“I don’t know what happened,” Gosling said in an interview for The Guardian. “Two years later I saw her in New York and we started getting the idea that maybe we were wrong about each other”.

After reconnecting, the pair would go on to date on and off for two years. And, soon enough, they would become one of the most popular power couples of the early 2000s. However, it seems that fans and the media’s obsessive attention on them are what led to Gosling and McAdams officially splitting in 2007.

Neither of them has opened up about what really led to their breakup, it seems the couple remained on good terms. In fact, Gosling has said he’s thankful for The Notebook because it introduced him to McAdams, one of the greatest loves of his life. “People do Rachel and me a disservice by assuming we were anything like the people in that movie. Rachel and my love story is a hell of a lot more romantic than that.” He told GQ Magazine (via People).

The Notebook: 7 Thoughts I Had While Rewatching The Ryan Gosling And Rachel McAdams Movie

The Notebook is one of the best romantic movies of all time. It’s a beautiful tale of an unbreakable love story between people of different social classes. On paper, they would never work. However, their love is powerful enough to break any barriers that stand in their way. Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams star as Noah and Allie, the main protagonists of this love story.

I wouldn’t say The Notebook ranks in my top 5 favorite romantic movies of all time, but it’s definitely in the top 20. The undeniable chemistry between Gosling and McAdams makes it a must-watch for all romance movie fans. Because I haven’t seen a romantic movie that I’ve really loved in a while, I decided to revisit some of my favorite movie romances, and that included a rewatching of The Notebook. I have some thoughts.

Warning The Notebook spoilers ahead. Proceed with caution.

Ryan Gosling And Rachel McAdams Give Some OF Their Best Performances In The Notebook

Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams are both really good actors. I would even argue that Gosling is one of the best actors who hasn’t won an Oscar. While rewatching The Notebook, I couldn’t help but be even more convinced of this opinion. Gosling and McAdams completely convince us that they’re in love. Not only that, you see how much they put into these performances.

In the scene where Noah hears Allie’s parents calling him trash, how can your heart not break watching Noah react to it? In the scene where Allie pretends to be a bird, how can you not feel her joy? You feel all of these characters’ emotions because McAdams, Gosling, and the entire cast give really strong performances.

For two-plus hours, Gosling becomes Noah and McAdams becomes Allie. I’ve seen many Rachel McAdams movies and many Ryan Gosling movies and Allie and Noah are some of their most beloved characters because of how good they are in these roles. The Notebook is one of the best Rachel McAdams movies and one of the best Ryan Gosling movies. They’re both really outstanding in this film.

The Costumes And Makeup Departments Are The MVPs Of This Movie

The Notebook starts with Allie and Noah as teens, then ends with them as older adults. At some point, they’re in their mid-20s. The oldest versions of Allie and Noah are played by James Garner and Gena Rowlands. The rest of the ages are played by Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling. They completely convince you that they’re teens at the start of the movie. This is partly because of their acting skills, and partly because of the makeup department.

They tone back the makeup with McAdams to give her a fresh face to portray teen Allie. Clean-shaven Ryan Gosling looks like a teen. Once he has facial hair, he becomes an adult Noah who has seen some things. As Allie ages, more makeup appears to be added, which makes her look older and more sophisticated. The makeup is really subtle but completely transforms these characters.

The 1940s fashion is really gorgeous in The Notebook. Every one of Allie’s outfits, I would love to steal. They’re just so fabulous. The costume designers also use the clothes in very interesting ways. I noticed that the outfit that Allie and Noah wear when they meet, mimics the clothing that they’re wearing as older adults, at least in terms of colors. The Notebook is one of those movies where it’s clear that multiple elements, including costumes and makeup, work in harmony to make this such a memorable film.

The Notebook Breakup Scene Is One of The Best In History

Thankfully, The Notebook isn’t one of the great breakup movies, because that would totally ruin the vibe of the film. However, the film has one of the greatest movie breakup scenes. Many adore The Notebook because of all the major declarations of love, the steamy sex scene, and the enticing chemistry between the lead characters. I love all those things as well, but I also really like the main breakup scene.

It starts with Noah having his heart broken by hearing what Allie’s parents think of him. Then it leads to him ending it. We see every emotion in that scene, from anger to desperation to confusion to fear to hopelessness. It’s brilliant. Then we see parallel elements of that scene in the part where Noah fights for them to be together, but Allie doesn’t want to break Lon’s (James Marsden) heart.

The Notebook breakup scene just feels so realistic and raw.

The Drama And Romance Always Sweeps Me Away

Until rewatching The Notebook, I didn’t realize how much the film engulfs you. The two-plus hours pass fast because I’m so drawn into this story and this world. I know what is going to happen, but I can’t look away. It’s one of those rare films that really takes hold of you from start to finish. You feel all their emotions, you suspend reality and reason, and you let your hopeless romantic side thrive.

Like Allie and Noah’s love story, The Notebook can be all-consuming.

I Can’t Help But Feel Bad For Lon

Lon joins the list of movie boyfriends involved in a love triangle who do nothing wrong but just aren’t the right guy. Sometimes the other guy in these types of movies sucks. Lon is not one of those guys. Allie not only cheats on him, but she does it while completely forgetting about him for days. According to my calculation, Allie and Noah only dated for a few months (before getting married and starting their life together), but she dated Lon for at least three years before completely dumping him.

Even if you love Allie and Noah together, you kind of have to think that they were quite terrible for how they treated their exes. At least poor Martha (Jamie Brown) could see their romance as a window of what could be for her. We don’t even completely get Lon’s reaction to the breakup.

For all we know, the Allie breakup could have been Lon’s villain origin story. I know that viewers aren’t supposed to hate Allie and Noah, because we’re supposed to view this all as them being so in love that they would always only want each other. However, love shouldn’t be an excuse to just cheat and neglect your fiancé.

Is The Notebook Ending Tragic Or Happy?

When I originally saw The Notebook, I considered it a happy ending. They were able to live their lives together and even leave the world together. However, watching it again, I couldn’t help but wonder if this isn’t exactly a happy ending. Yes, they got to die together, but it’s pretty terrible that they reached the stage in their life where their bodies began to betray them. That’s part of life and aging, but it’s also a pretty downer way to end a love story. Realistic? Probably? Downer? Absolutely.

The sadness of The Notebook ending makes it easy to see why some versions don’t show it. It’s definitely a happy ending that they got to live a full life together and were able to leave the world together. The tragedy comes with the whole aging process and how it can disrupt even a beautiful love story, even if only temporarily.

Other Thoughts

The Notebook rewatch sparked so many thoughts, some silly, some profound, and more just ramblings. Here are my other thoughts.

• I think I just really love period piece love stories. Something about them makes everything more tragic and heightened.
• The Notebook really has a thing for birds. I’m assuming they’re a metaphor for Allie feeling caged by parents, and society, but finally being able to fly free at the end.
• I love writing letters, but even I find the idea of 365 letters kind of tedious.
• I had completely erased the war part of The Notebook from my memory. It’s so quick that it’s barely in there.
• I would love a prequel about Allie’s mom and her ex. Basically, Noah and Allie, but one that doesn’t work out.
• The Notebook has so many great quotes.
• Rachel McAdams’ lungs must have hurt with all the random screaming moments in the movie.

You can find The Notebook and plenty of other great romance movies on HBO Max.

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Things In The Notebook You Only Notice As An Adult

The year was 2004 when a movie called The Notebook hit theaters. An adaptation of the romantic Nicholas Sparks novel of the same name, the film was inspired by the author’s wife’s grandparents — a fact that made it even harder not to swoon. In fact, it was downright impossible. Considered a sleeper hit, the love story of Noah and Allie has spawned a cult following arguably unlike any other. But, as with most matters of the heart, the passing of time brings new perspective to The Notebook.

Upon re-watching the classic romance, the following things jump out in a way they failed to before. Keeping it real, though? Some of ’em will just make you want to come back to the film a million times more.

The scenery is stunning

From moss dripping off the arthritic arms of old oak trees to marsh-lined rivers and storied homes, The Notebook exists in a place so beautiful it seems at times unreal. Only, it is real — and the rest of the world has taken notice.

The movie was filmed largely in Charleston, South Carolina, a city that has topped countless must-visit lists. Best city in the U.S.? Check. Best city in the world? That too. Yes, the city is that amazing. Would it have been able to seduce stars Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling into living there for two months prior to filming if it wasn’t?

Li’l Abner is an anachronism

The scene during which Noah and Allie go on their first official date (and a double one, to boot) could put butterflies in anyone’s stomach. It all starts with Allie’s BFF Sara duping Allie into coming by not telling her Noah will be there, setting the potential pair off on a jittery start. But, as we all now know, the evening — which starts at Charleston’s nostalgic American Theater — ultimately sets them down the path to true love.

Having said that, the date wouldn’t even have happened in real life. At the very least, it would have involved picking a different first date movie, because their pick hadn’t actually made it to theaters yet. While Allie and Noah’s romance began during the summer of 1940, Li’l Abner didn’t premiere until November 9, 1940.

They are too bundled up for summer in the South

If you’re from the South or have ever spent any time in the region during the summer months, you might cast a little side-eye at the screen while watching The Notebook. No one in their right mind dares to wear thick cardigans, wool coats, caps, and long sleeves during sweltering Southern summers.

We know several of the scenes in which the characters are seen all bundled up — going to the movies, dancing in the middle of the street — were, in fact, set during the summer, because they occurred shortly after Allie and Noah first met. The Notebook author Nicholas Sparks confirmed this timeline himself, telling CBN the film was one third set the summer that they first meet when they are 17.

To put things into perspective, the highest daily max temperature in Charleston (where filming took place) during the month of June occurred in 1944 and was 103 degrees Fahrenheit, according to a report by the National Climatic Data Center. And on average, the mean temp during June hovers just shy of 90 degrees. Coats and scarves? Uh, no thank you.

Allie’s summer home isn’t really a summer home

If you’re anything like me, you probably marveled over just how palatial Allie’s family’s summer home was in the movie. I mean, sure, this family is wealthy but wow. However, a bit of due diligence reveals that it wasn’t just any summer home. It is Boone Hall Plantation, located in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, just outside of Charleston. According to the plantation’s website, it was founded in 1681 by a wealthy Englishman Major named John Boone and came to be both a lucrative and influential piece of Lowcountry history.

In one scene of The Notebook, you can even see the plantation’s nine original slave cabins, which now serve as a collective exhibit preserving and honoring black history. That exhibit and, yes, the house used as Allie’s summer home (along with the rest of the grounds) are open to the public.

This relationship isn’t exactly healthy

By the end of the movie, it’s easy to feel starry-eyed about Noah and Allie’s romance. After all, their love took them away together. You can’t get much sweeter (albeit morbid) than that, can you? But when you go back and take a closer look at their saga, cracks in the facade are more readily apparent.

In a word, their relationship is volatile. There’s an entire montage devoted to how they never get along and often get into heated arguments. They call each other names. When they break up, Allie is obviously distraught. Still, that doesn’t mean she should physically accost Noah, pushing him and slapping him. In case you missed it, domestic violence is a serious issue.

The fact that we, as fans, can overlook the aggression in Noah and Allie’s relationship points to another problem: we’ve put them on a pedestal. When TimeOut asked a team of experts to name the movies with the most unhealthy view of love, The Notebook made the cut. Talk about idealized love! therapist Gurpreet Singh told the outlet, pointing out that most average couples are nothing like that.

Noah is romantic, but also creepy

When Noah builds Allie a house with his bare hands, it seems dreamy. The fact that he refuses to give up on their love and basically lives in a state of frozen nostalgia comes off as sweet. And the way he writes her without fail? Swoon. But, c’mon, if an ex pulled half of the stuff Noah does, you’d probably have the local police precinct on speed dial.

Even Ryan Gosling concedes this point. Basically, this is a guy who, you know, writes 365 letters to a girl he barely even knows, he told Canada’s Tribute about a minute into the interview. And then builds a house for her and essentially pretends like he lives in it with her, you know? And in any other movie, this guy’s gonna get locked up. But she thinks it’s romantic.

Allie and Noah look frigid in the boat scene

As previously mentioned, Allie and Noah don what amounts to winter wear during their younger years in the midst of the stifling South Carolina summer. Yet, when Allie and Noah reunite years later and Noah rows Allie in a boat on the river, they’ve ditched the outerwear although it looks like they actually need it this time.

At one point, you can even see Noah’s breath against the frigid air. In an interview with Allure, Rachel McAdams confessed both counts — that it was in fact bitter cold, and that they were not dressed well for the weather.

We just wanted to get out of the rain, she said of shooting the boat scene. It was very cold. That dress was made for the film, but a lot of the stuff I wore was rented and was actually from the 1940s. So much of it was falling apart. I think there’s a scene in the movie where I’m running in bare feet, and it’s only because [after] the first few takes I did, the shoes disintegrated off my feet. Yikes!

There must have been a duck whisperer on set

Speaking of that iconic boat ride Noah and Allie take, how is more not made of the ducks? Re-watching the film sans the love goggles of youth, the romance of the scene fails to drown out one very practical question: how did they get the ducks to, you know, cooperate?

Well, prepare to be wowed. Despite being told by New Line Cinema that shooting a scene with that many birds would never work, director Nick Cassavetes would not be deterred. He stubbornly went out, bought a bunch of hatchlings, and had someone march them down to the lake every single day to be fed. By the time the movie was shooting, they were kind of grown but they had been fed out there every day, Cassavetes told VH1. So, when the studio came down to see the scene — because they didn’t believe we could do it — the guy marched them out there like the Pied Piper and they went out on the lake.

Sam Shepard was phenomenal (per the norm)

He may not have had the biggest role in The Notebook, but veteran actor and playwright Sam Shepard shone through just the same. His role, of course, was that of Noah’s blue collar dad, Frank Calhoun — a man who read poetry by Walt Whitman with his son and sold his house so Noah could finally buy Windsor Plantation.

The character, despite being minor, made a major impact thanks to Shepard’s warmth and commitment. It’s really interesting being a director, writing for Sam Shepard, said Nick Cassavetes. You say, ‘Well I thought you might do something like this,’ and you look at him and you know he’s being so polite because he’s looking at you, going, ‘Kid, I could have written this so much better than you did. Check my Pulitzers if you don’t believe me.’ But he’s so kind and so gracious that he goes out of his way to make you feel that you’re actually saying something that he respects.

Sadly, Shepard passed away in 2017 from complications due to Lou Gehrig’s disease. He was 73 at the time.

Man, houses were affordable back then

Every fan of The Notebook dreams of living in the house Noah built Allie — and when you hear how much he was selling it for, that dream doesn’t seem so far out of reach. It goes without saying that it was a different time period, so you have to take inflation and other logical matters into consideration. But still, the thought of scoring that iconic white house with blue shutters (aka Windsor Plantation) for 45,000 gives a person sticker shock in a good way.

Alas, such a price tag simply isn’t feasible now. The home used in the movie is an actual real-life residence located at Martins Point Plantation on Wadmalaw Island outside of Charleston, South Carolina. While the home is not on the market and is off-limits to the public, Zillow estimates its current value to be over 2 million.

Ryan Gosling wore colored contacts for the film

There’s one glaring thing missing from The Notebook. Can’t put your finger on it? Well, the answer is quite literally staring you in the face for the film’s duration: Ryan Gosling’s eyes! While they are naturally a blue hue, Gosling’s eyes received a makeover for consistency’s sake — James Garner, the legendary actor who plays the older version of Noah, has eyes of a different color.

In an interview with VH1, director Nick Cassavetes divulged the behind-the-scenes convo between Garner and Gosling that led to this creative decision. While Gosling likes to discuss roles, Garner isn’t one for chit-chat, according to Cassavetes. So when the young star asked about their difference in eye color, the veteran actor didn’t mince words. Everyone knows James Garner’s got brown eyes. Do what you want, kid, Cassavetes recounts Garner saying, to which Gosling simply responded, Okay, I guess I’ll wear contacts.

War widow Martha Shaw is also Terry from The Killing

At the time of The Notebook’s release, actress Jamie Anne Allman’s star was still rising. She’d enjoyed bit parts in a string of TV shows and had started to make a name for herself with a recurring role on the gritty crime drama The Shield. So when she popped up as pretty war widow Martha Shaw in The Notebook, her face didn’t necessarily ring any bells. Re-watching the film, though, Allman stands out for a more recent role — that of Terry in the inaugural season of another crime drama, The Killing.

Playing the aunt of a young woman who disappears, Allman brought the kind of emotional resonance to the role that audiences find hard to forget. Or casting directors, for that matter. Since The Killing, she has secured spots on popular TV shows like Bones, Chicago P.D., Preacher, Longmire, and Z: The Beginning of Everything.

And you know what? The Notebook’s director, Nick Cassavetes, totally called it. In an interview with Paste magazine, Allman revealed that, at the film’s premiere, Cassavetes wanted me to stand up and said, ‘Hollywood, this is Jamie Brown, if you don’t know her yet, you’ll know her.’

Allie’s mom’s ex is the jerky dad from One Tree Hill

As you well remember, there’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment in The Notebook where Allie is given a glimpse of the man her mother once loved. That tiny peek didn’t stand out then, but it’s hard to miss the man’s pronounced jawline if you tuned into the teen drama One Tree Hill for its nearly decade-long run. That’s right — Allie’s mom’s ex-lover and OTH’s jerky dad Dan Scott are one and the same! Actor Paul Johansson is responsible for both parts. Johansson’s gig on OTH had actually been underway for around a year when The Notebook landed in theaters, but it hadn’t yet achieved cult status. That, coupled with the fact his cameo in the film was so short, made it possible for Johansson to fly under the radar.

The tiny gig clearly paid off, though, because director Nick Cassavetes continues to cast Johansson in his films. Prior to The Notebook, the pair collaborated on 2002’s John Q. Then, in 2006, they worked together again on Alpha Dog. In late 2017, it was announced that Cassavetes will direct a new romance called Have You Seen Her? in early 2018 and, this time, Johansson will be co-writing and starring in the movie.