Gena Rowlands Dead at 94

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8/15/2024

Gena Rowlands is dead at 94

Transcript

00:00I was so moved at the love story. To see a love that lasts throughout a life into

00:08even the bad times, and for the love just not to be destroyed at all, that moved me a lot.

00:16She's the light.

00:19Like her beloved character in The Notebook, actress Jenna Rowlands spent her final years living with Alzheimer's disease.

00:26I remember now. It was us. It was us.

00:33Her son, Nick Cassavetes, who also directed the love story, shared the heartbreaking news on The Notebook's 20th anniversary,

00:40telling EW she's in full dementia, and it's so crazy. We lived it, she acted it, and now it's on us.

00:47Jenna hasn't been seen publicly since the 2016 Oscars.

00:51The year her The Notebook co-star, Rachel McAdams, was a Best Supporting Actress nominee for Spotlight.

00:57Are you rooting for Rachel McAdams tonight? She played a younger you in The Notebook movie.

01:01Yes, I love her. I think she's a wonderful actress.

01:04It still isn't over.

01:06Do you remember your first love?

01:08Of course I do.

01:10And what was his name?

01:12Monica Beeswax.

01:15Jenna's touching role in The Notebook was all the more meaningful because of her son's involvement.

01:20I have no trouble at all being directed by Nick. All he was trying to do was the right thing.

01:26He's a director that loves actors. In that, he reminds me a lot of John, my late husband, and his father.

01:34Jenna built her career by being unapologetically bold in her choices, portraying fierce females long before they were the norm in Hollywood.

01:42Okay, wise guy, your turn.

01:45I love strong women, pleasant ones or unpleasant ones. They're always interesting because they take such a very strong point of view.

01:53You wear too much makeup, Mother. In this light, you look like a beautiful prostitute.

01:58You know the awful thing about children is they can see right through their parents.

02:02I play a lot of mothers, and I like to because mothers are the most powerful people in the world.

02:08And I like to see how they use their power.

02:11Julia, Kate, Brooke, Marissa, and Sandra, they all shared the screen with Jenna

02:16and were all inspired as much by her wisdom as they were her humor on set.

02:21Would you excuse us, honey?

02:24This is Ms. Rollins. Look at Ms. Rollins in her car. Don't film her with her curlers.

02:31I don't want you to film her with her curlers. I don't want you to see her like that.

02:36Did you stick out your tongue first, or did she?

02:39She was doing a face. She gets it. She's just as much an instigator as you are.

02:44It's really great to look at how she's lived her life that way.

02:53I can't gush enough.

02:54I used to have this little wish list, and Jenna was first on my very short.

02:59I swear to you, I promise there's nobody else after you.

03:02You promise?

03:03The four-time Emmy winner didn't take home an Oscar until 2016

03:07when at the age of 85, she was recognized for her life's work with an honorary award.

03:12You know, he's just so elegant that I'll, that is if nobody objects,

03:19I think I'll take him home with me tonight.

03:23Really, you learn a lot about life from acting.

03:26You understand things that you didn't before.

03:29I treasure the things that I've done in the past.

03:31I love them, and no one can take them away from you, and that's a wonderful thing.

03:36This is a good story.

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