There is evidence that the actress Gena Rowlands suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, as stated by her son Nick Cassavetes, who directed his mother in the film The Notebook in 2004.

According to the director and actor, it is “crazy” that his mother portrayed a lady with cognitive decline in the legendary romance, and now she is battling with the degenerative illness herself. He and his mother made this statement in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.

“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 to EW of his mother, who portrayed the older version of Rachael McAdams’ character in the film. Cassavetes’ mother is now 93 years old.

“She is complete in her dementia. It’s ridiculous because we experienced it, she acted it, and now it’s on us. And it’s all because of us.

The most prevalent type of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease, which is believed to be the cause of up to 70 percent of the 55 million individuals throughout the world who are diagnosed with dementia. Despite the fact that a precise reason for it has not yet been established, the National Institute on Aging has said that it is a “combination of age-related changes in the brain, along with genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors.”

Alzheimer’s disease affects about 6.5 million individuals in the United States who are 65 years old or older, with more than 70 percent of those patients being 75 years old or older, according to figures provided by the Mayo Clinic.

Rowlands has said that her mother Lady’s struggle with Alzheimer’s almost prevented her from taking on the famous part of elder Allie in The Notebook, which recently marked its 20th year anniversary. Rowlands was bestowed with an honorary Academy Award in 2015 after receiving two nominations for the award.

I played a guy who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease in the most recent film, The Notebook, which was adapted from Nicholas Sparks’s novel. This particular film was extremely challenging for me. According to an interview that she gave to O magazine in 2004, she said, “I went through that with my mother, and if Nick hadn’t directed the film, I don’t think I would have gone for it.”

“It’s just that difficult. The film was challenging, but it was also quite good.

Those comments were shared by Cassavetes, who also said to Entertainment Weekly that the film “holds up pretty good” after twenty years.

It never ceases to amaze me when I hear that such a significant amount of time has passed, yet it is not surprising at all. When asked about it, he told the publication, “I’m just happy that it exists.”

“It seems to have worked,” he stated in response, “and I’m very proud of it.”

By Anna

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