This year marks the 20th anniversary of the premiere of “Diary of a passion”a film starring Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams which has undoubtedly become one of the favorites of many.
The film tells the love story of Noah and Allie, two young lovers who for one reason or another must face several problems that force them to be separated. This story is told by an older man to a woman with Alzheimer’s.
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Gena Rowlands suffers from Alzheimer’s like her character in Diary of a Passion
Gena Rowlands plays the woman with Alzheimer’s, a role that, ironically, has become a sad reality for the actress.
In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Nick Cassavetes, director of the film and son of Rowlands, revealed that his mother, now 94, has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.
Gena Rowlands, an iconic figure of American independent cinemais known for her many collaborations with her late husband, John Cassavetes.
His role in “Diary of a Passion” as Allie, a woman fighting Alzheimer’s, is especially significant not only for the depth of his performance, but also for his personal connection to the disease.
Rowlands has shared in interviews previous that the role of Allie was one of the most challenging of her career due to your personal experience with the disease.
His mother also suffered from Alzheimer’s, which made Allie’s performance particularly painful and at the same time cathartic for her.
“I got my mom to play Allie when I was older and we spent a lot of time talking about Alzheimer’s in an attempt to portray it with the greatest respect and fidelity possible, and now she has been suffering from the disease for five years. My grandmother, her mother, also had it. And she now has dementia, so she is very crazy: she acted it out and now she is experiencing it in real life,” said the actress’s son.
Since his participation in “Diary of a Passion”, Rowlands has continued to work in the entertainment industryappearing in series such as “Monk” and “Numb3rs” and in films such as “The Skeleton Key” (2004) and “Broken English” (2007), directed by his daughter Zoe Cassavetes.
Her last work was in the comedy-drama “Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks” in 2014. Throughout her extensive career, Rowlands has won four Emmy Awards and two Golden Globes.
P.J.G.
