The actress played the character Allie in the movie “The Diary of a Passion,” who had the same illness with which Rowlnds was diagnosed. EFE/ Luc Skeudener ARCHIVE
Photo: EFE – Colombia
“For the last five years, she has had Alzheimer’s,” said Cassavetes, who reviewed how they worked together on the filming of ‘The Notebook’, a film in which her mother played a woman with Alzheimer’s and of which Two decades have passed since its premiere on the big screen.
The 94-year-old actress played Allie in that film, the more adult version of the same character played by Rachel McAdams. “This last one, The Notebook, based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks, was particularly difficult because I play a character who has Alzheimer’s,” Rowlands said in an interview with O magazine in 2004. “I went through that with my mother, and if Nick wouldn’t have directed the movie, I don’t think he would have; it’s too difficult. It was a tough but wonderful film.”
Rowlands “is in full dementia.” She “spent a lot of time talking about Alzheimer’s and wanting to be authentic with it, and now, for the last five years, she has had Alzheimer’s. And she is crazy: we lived it, she acted and now she depends on us,” said her son.
Cassavetes’ grandmother, actress Lady Rowlands, also suffered from Alzheimer’s and her struggle inspired Gena to play Allie in ‘The Notebook’, based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks.
Known for her collaborations with her late husband, actor and director John Cassavetes, in 10 films, the American actress has been awarded four Emmy Awards and two Golden Globes in her more than six decades of career.
Her last role in a feature film was in ‘Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks’ (2014) co-starring Cheyenne Jackson.
