The Notebook star Gena Rowlands diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease

The Notebook actress has sadly been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease

The film's director cast his mum to play the older Allie in the romantic drama in 2004.

He confirmed to Entertainment Weekly that she was diagnosed around five years ago.

Nick Cassavetes shared, "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.

"She's in full dementia. And it's so crazy — we lived it, she acted it, and now it's on us."

Rowlands previously opened up about the magnitude of playing a character with Alzheimer’s disease because her own mother also suffered from it.

She told O Magazine: "This last one — The Notebook, based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks — was particularly hard because I play a character who has Alzheimer's.

"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 too hard. It was a tough but wonderful movie."

Fans of The Notebook have been sending Rowlands loving wishes following news of her heartbreaking diagnosis.

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