Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling in The Notebook (2004)Melissa Moseley
NO LOVE, ACTUALLY
For anyone who adored (or was forced to watch) the mushy movie The Notebook, prepare to have all your romantic preconceptions shattered.
According to Nick Cassavettes, who directed the 2004 film, the on-screen love story between The Notebook's Canadian-born stars Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams was pretty much one big fake.
During a recent interview with the U.S. cable outlet VH1, Cassavettes revealed for the first time that Gosling was handpicked by him to play Noah, while newcomer McAdams landed the role of Allie through the traditional audition process.
None of which helped the two actors achieve any semblance of on-screen chemistry when it came to filming a crucial scene in the movie based on Nicholas Sparks' tearjerker novel.
"They were really not getting along one day on set," said Cassavettes in the interview. "Really not. Ryan came to me and there's 150 people standing in this big scene and he says, 'Nick, come here,' " said Cassavettes in the interview. "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?' "
Continued Cassavettes: "I said, 'What?' He says, 'I can't. I can't do it with her. I'm just not getting anything from this.' "
On that occasion, the rocky road was smoothed over by Cassavettes putting Gosling and McAdams into the same room with one of the film's producers to air their respective grievances. After "screaming and yelling at each other," the two actors emerged ready to work.
"It got better after that, you know?" said Cassavettes. "They had it out … I think Ryan respected her for standing up for her character and Rachel was happy to get that out in the open. The rest of the film wasn't smooth sailing, but it was smoother sailing."
Of course, the path of true love does not always run smoothly for Noah and Allie throughout The Notebook, which in turn resulted in Gosling improvising one of the movie's most memorable lines of dialogue.
Specifically, it was the scene in which a bearded and exasperated Noah tries to get flighty Allie to talk about their future together. According to Cassavettes, Gosling improvised the scene's now-famous tagline, "What do you want?" – which he repeats five times in succession – on the day of shooting.
"It became one of the most iconic things from the film that wasn't in the script," said Cassavettes. "He just knew it."
Of course, there's a time and place for improvisation in movie acting. Cassavettes also revealed that in The Notebook's second chapter, after a heartbroken Noah painstakingly rebuilds the Windsor Plantation, Gosling wanted to deviate sharply from the script – by burning down the house.
"He'd come to me and say, 'Why can't I burn the house down?' I'd say, 'Because I don't even know what that means.' And he'd say, 'Cleansing my fire!' "
Needless to say, Gosling's suggestion didn't make it into The Notebook.
TROLL-BUSTER
Be warned, Internet trolls and nasty bloggers: Lily Allen has your number. The British pop star has released a new music video titled URL Badman, which encapsulates her attitude to online haters in the wake of negative feedback to her feminist-themed song Hard Out Here. In the jaunty Badman, Allen assumes the persona of a mean-spirited blogger through lyrics like, "I work at home in my parents' basement/I don't troll, I make statements." The caustic lyrics are accompanied by images of badly dressed individuals posing as online bloggers.
Source: Mashable
OFF THE TOP
The rumours are true: Helen Mirren really does cut her own hair. The 68-year-old Oscar-winner came clean about her self-barbering technique in a recent interview with Redbook magazine. "Not always, but yes," admitted Mirren. "I can't handle going to the hairdresser every six weeks, so I only go about once a year. In between, I get out the scissors and do something, usually rather disastrously. Sometimes I'll even chop my hair the morning of a big red carpet event."
Source: Redbook
GRAMMER ON GRAMMAR
Why did Kelsey Grammer go on Twitter? Apparently to correct other people's grammar. The ex-Frasier star finally created his first Twitter account (@KelseyGrammer) on June 30 and kicked off with the tweet, "It has come to my attention that the fine people of Twitter have an egregious grammar problem. I'm here to help." Which is exactly what he's been doing. When a fan recently issued the tweet, "Down Periscope w/ Kelsey Grammer is one of my favourite movies. Its a movie I can watch over & over again. Deal with it," the actor responded thusly: "I'm honoured you think so, but believe it should be 'it's.' "
Source: CNN
LOW BLOW
A reality series designed to make an average family famous has been cancelled for the most ignominious reason imaginable: low ratings. The CW network announced Wednesday it was pulling the plug on the unscripted series Famous in 12, which showcased the Artiaga family of Beaumont, Calif. The show was executive-produced by TMZ founder Harvey Levin, who broke the news to the family that won the honour by submitting a homemade video. Famous in 12 was originally slated to run for three months, but will disappear from The CW's schedule after only four airings.
Source: Boston Herald
HACK ALERT
Remain calm, Glee fans. Chris Colfer is not leaving the show. On Thursday, a tweet on what appeared to be Colfer's Twitter account said he had been fired from the show after five seasons "due to personal issues." Shortly after, Colfer's manager contacted The Hollywood Reporter to report that the actor's Twitter account had been hacked and to confirm that Colfer will resume his portrayal of flamboyant Kurt Hummel when Glee returns for its sixth season next fall. 20th Century Fox TV, which produces Glee, immediately reconfirmed Colfer's active duty with a statement that said, "Rumours of his dismissal from Glee could not be further from the truth. We love Chris and look forward to working with him again this season."
Source: Us