Chapter 147: The Notebook

The movie *The Notebook* begins with the story of a notebook.

In a nursing home, an elderly man visits an elderly woman every day at the same time, opens a faded notebook, and tells her the story recorded inside.

The elderly man is the male lead in his later years, and the elderly woman is the female lead in her later years.

They are a married couple.

The diary records their love story, but the woman suffers from Alzheimer's disease. She has forgotten who the man is, as well as their past.

The man reads the diary to help her remember everything.

The two first met in the summer of 1940 when they were 17 or 18 years old.

The female lead, Allie, was the daughter of a wealthy businessman from California—beautiful, lively, and full of laughter. Her family was vacationing in Seabrook during the summer.

The male lead, Noah, was a simple carpenter in Seabrook.

At a carnival one evening, Noah was drawn to Allie's carefree laughter and fell in love with her at first sight, despite the differences in their social backgrounds—Allie from the upper class and Noah a poor boy.

Like many dramatic romances, their love faced opposition from Allie's family. At the same time, World War II broke out, and Noah enlisted.

Seven years later, Noah returned from the war, intending to find Allie and rekindle their love, only to discover that she was engaged to Ron Hammond.

Heartbroken, Noah rebuilt the old house in Seabrook, as he had promised Allie, and had an affair with a local widow, Martha.

Just before her wedding, Allie saw a picture of Noah and the house in the newspaper and gathered the courage to return to Seabrook, where they cleared up their misunderstandings and fell in love again.

The scene being filmed today is the one where, the morning after Noah and Allie spend the night together, Martha shows up.

"Scene 18, Take 10, Second Shot, First Attempt, Action!"

Knock, knock, knock~

As the scene begins, Heather Warquist, playing Martha, knocks on the door of the old house.

Martha, a widow whose husband died in the war, loves Noah, but Noah does not love her.

Upon hearing that Noah and Allie have reunited, she comes to see him, heartbroken.

Creak~

Ryan Gosling, playing Noah, opens the door with a complicated expression—joy from reuniting with his love, and guilt toward Martha. He leans against the doorframe, silent.

"It's her, isn't it?" 

Martha breaks the silence, her eyes brimming with tears. She had once seen Noah as her hope, but now that hope is gone.

Noah nods slightly, his gaze dropping as he bites his tongue.

"Brilliant!"

Off-camera, Luca, watching, silently praises Gosling's subtle movements, which feel natural and fitting for the moment.

"Can I meet her?" Martha asks, her eyes red. "I really want to meet her."

"I don't think that's a good idea, Martha."

Noah turns to face her directly.

"Is that Martha?" 

Rachel McAdams, playing Allie, appears at the door, smiling warmly. "Hi, I'm Allie. I've heard a lot about you."

The two shake hands.

Rachel's performance is excellent. The role suits her perfectly—lively, optimistic, and full of laughter, much like her real personality. This is why she won the role over nine other strong actresses during the audition.

"Hey, Luca, you're here!"

As Luca watches the scene, John Capricci, the assistant director, approaches—a man in his 30s with brown hair, wearing a white shirt, looking scholarly.

"Hey, John, what's up?"

Luca asks curiously.

"Take a look—here's the shooting schedule for the crew. The day after tomorrow, we'll be filming your scenes with Rachel. The first scene is where Ron Hammond and Allie meet at the military hospital, and then, in the afternoon, we'll film your date scene."

"John, can I make a copy of this?"

"This copy's for you."

John pulls a schedule from his folder.

"Thanks!"

Luca takes the schedule. "John, is there anything I need to prepare in advance?"

"Yes, that's why I'm here. Let's sit and talk."

They sit on a bench under the shade of a pine tree.

"First, costumes. You have twelve scenes, and you'll need twelve outfits. After your audition, the crew took your measurements, and your outfits have already been ordered. You'll need to try them on before filming begins to avoid any issues that could delay the schedule."

"I understand."

"Second, your skills and character traits," John continues, looking at his notes. "Can you ride a horse? There's a scene where you and Rachel ride horses along the beach. It's just a walk, nothing too complicated."

"I can ride a bit."

In that scene, Luca and Rachel ride slowly along the beach, which won't be too difficult.

"Do you smoke?" John asks, making a note on his clipboard.

"I don't."

"You don't smoke?" John looks puzzled. "In the film, Ron Hammond is a seasoned smoker. You'll need to pick up the habit quickly."

"Don't worry about that. I quit smoking, but I haven't forgotten how."

In the screenwriting industry, very few people don't smoke. Luca used to be a heavy smoker, but he quit.

"Really?" 

John pulls out a Camel cigarette.

"Thanks!"

Luca takes it, lights up, and takes a deep drag. Cough, cough, cough~

"You sure you can smoke?" John asks, suspicious after hearing him cough.

"It's been a while. I'm out of practice."

Luca takes another puff, inhales, and exhales through his nose.

John nods, reassured.

Luca takes another drag and blows out a perfect smoke ring.

"Nice, very cool!"

John is completely convinced and marks it off his list. "Can you drink red wine?"

"A little."

"Good. Can you dance?"

"I can samba, do ballroom, social dances, waltz, and some street dance moves."

"That's enough. Social dancing is all you need." 

John waves his hand. "What's this…ballroom dancing?"

"Uh, it's an Eastern group dance where a bunch of people dance together in a square."

"Wow, you're talented," John compliments. "Last question—do you have any issues with kissing scenes?"

"Nope!"

He had already done kissing scenes with Britney and Jessica.

"Alright, that's everything."

John shrugged and, as he was about to leave, winked and said, "One last piece of friendly advice: when you do the kissing scene with Rachel, be careful, or Ryan will give you trouble."

"Thanks for the warning. I know Ryan can be a bit possessive."

"Haha, yeah, he's pretty possessive."

"What are you guys talking about?"

Just then, Ryan walked over, squinting slightly, sensing that they might have been talking about him.

"Ahem, Ryan, you two chat. I've got work to do!"

John quickly walked off with his folder.

"What were you guys talking about?" Ryan asked, clearly irritated.

Luca smiled slightly. "Nothing much. John was just reminding me not to eat garlic before my kissing scenes with Rachel."

"Hmph!"

Ryan's face darkened, and he walked over to the director's area, seemingly to discuss something.

Luca shook his head, chuckling. "What a possessive guy!"

Thanks to reader Demon Jie for the tip!