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The Notebook nearly cast George Clooney in Ryan Gosling's role

Photo credit: New Line Cinema
Photo credit: New Line Cinema

From Digital Spy

Ryan Gosling very nearly didn't play Noah Jr in beloved romantic drama The Notebook.

Although a legion of fans might struggle to see anyone else in the role, the actor who initially eyed it up isn't too shabby either, as George Clooney revealed at the BFI London Film Festival this month that he very nearly played the part.

Photo credit: New Line Cinema
Photo credit: New Line Cinema

Related: The Notebook is getting a musical adaptation with a former High School Musical star

Discussing his long and stellar career in Hollywood, Clooney explained that he and late actor Paul Newman once considered adapting Nicholas Sparks' novel.

"We were going to do The Notebook together," he told Edith Bowman (via Deadline). "Basically, I was going to play him as a young man, and it was funny. We met and said, 'This is it. It's going to be great.'"

What happened next would derail their plans, though.

Photo credit: John Lamparski - Getty Images
Photo credit: John Lamparski - Getty Images

Related: First look at George Clooney and Felicity Jones in new Netflix movie

Recalling how he went home and watched a variety of Newman's iconic movies, Clooney explained: "He's one of the handsomest guys you've ever seen. We met up [again] and I said, 'I can't play you. I don't look anything like you. This is insane.'

"We just wanted to do it because we wanted to work together, [but] it ended up being not the right thing for us to do."

Meanwhile, the 59-year-old star-cum-director has a new Netflix project on the horizon titled The Midnight Sky, which begins streaming this December.


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