How Rachel McAdams Reacted to the Rumor That Ryan Gosling Was Considered for ‘Dr. Strange’

Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams first worked together on the classic love story The Notebook. Their time on the film would eventually lead to a real-life passionate romance that lasted for quite some time.

Years later, however, there were rumors that Gosling would be cast in Dr. Strange. Which might have marked the pair reuniting on screen again.

‘The Notebook’ director confided how Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams initially didn’t get along on set

Gosling and McAdams may be known for their acclaimed and timeless performance in the hit romance The Notebook. But perhaps they may be equally as well-known for the fights they had behind the scenes. The film’s director, Nick Cassavetes, once opened up about how his two stars kept clashing with each other. So much so that Gosling allegedly tried to get rid of her.

“Ryan came to me, and there’s 150 people standing in this big scene, and he says, ‘Nick come here,’” Cassavetes once told VH1 (via Daily Mail). “And he’s doing a scene with Rachel and he says, ‘Would you take her out of here and bring in another actress to read off camera with me?'”

Eventually, a sort of intervention was hosted for the two co-stars to cool their heads.

“We went into a room with a producer, they started screaming and yelling at each other,” the filmmaker continued. “I walked out … I smoked a cigarette and everybody came out like, ‘All right let’s do this.’ And it got better after that, you know? They had it out.”

How Rachel McAdams responded to the rumors that her ex-boyfriend Ryan Gosling might be in ‘Dr. Strange’

McAdams only strengthened her career years after The Notebook by featuring in several notable projects. In 2016, she was recruited by one of the biggest franchises of all time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The actor found herself in the role as Dr. Christine Palmer, who was the love interest for Dr. Strange in his titular film. She would reprise the role again in 2022 with Multiverse of Madness.

Although Benedict Cumberbatch has become the face of Dr. Strange, other actors were being considered for the sorcerer supreme. There were rumors that one of the names being tossed around was none other than Ryan Gosling. If Gosling snagged the role, this might have led to McAdams and Gosling reuniting on the big screen.

In a 2016 interview with Yahoo, McAdams reacted to the rumor of Gosling possibly being a part of the MCU. She was asked if she dreaded linking up with Gosling again.

“No! Not at all, I’d love to work with [Ryan] again,” she said. “I didn’t know that [he was linked with Doctor Strange]. Benedict was signed on when it came across my plate so he’s the only ever Doctor Strange I’ve known of.”

Ryan Gosling called his romance with Rachel McAdams a better love story than ‘The Notebook’

After The Notebook, Gosling and McAdams were in a highly publicized relationship for a couple of years. It was an on and off effort between the two, and one that made Gosling grateful for his Notebook role.

“I mean, God bless The Notebook. It introduced me to one of the great loves of my life,” Gosling opened up in a 2007 interview with GQ.

But because of their Notebook romance, Gosling believed that fans compared himself and McAdams too much to their characters. The actor asserted that their relationship was actually much more than that.

“But people do Rachel and me a disservice by assuming we were anything like the people in that movie. Rachel and my love story is a hell of a lot more romantic than that,” Gosling added.

At the time of the interview, Gosling and McAdams had already broken up with each other. Although coy about the details, Gosling asserted that he and McAdams didn’t give up without a fight.

“The only thing I remember is we both went down swingin’ and we called it a draw,” he said.