Gena Rowlands Has Alzheimer’s Disease, Says Her Son and ‘The Notebook’ Director Nick Cassavetes
variety.comZack Sharf Digital News Director Gena Rowlands is living with Alzheimer’s disease, her son Nick Cassavetes announced in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly.
Cassavetes, who directed his mother in 2004’s “The Notebook,” said Rowlands is “in full dementia.” A four-time Emmy winner and two-time Golden Globe winner, Rowlands is a screen icon best known for her acclaimed collaborations with husband John Cassavetes, including the films “A Woman Under the Influence” (1974) and “Gloria” (1980).
Both performances earned her Oscar nominations for best actress. She received an honorary Academy Award in 2015. Nick Cassavetes told Entertainment Weekly that his mother’s Alzheimer’s disease is made all the more surreal for him considering he directed her as a woman with dementia in “The Notebook.” “I got my mom to play older Allie, and we spent a lot of time talking about Alzheimer’s and wanting to be authentic with it, and now, for the last five years, she’s had Alzheimer’s,” Cassavetes said. “She’s in full dementia.
And it’s so crazy — we lived it, she acted it, and now it’s on us.” Variety has reached out to Rowlands’ representatives for additional comment.
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