Casting What-Ifs
Jessica Biel, Britney Spears, Reese Witherspoon and Ashley Judd were in the mix for Allie; Justin Timberlake was rumored as Noah; Steven Spielberg wanted to direct with Tom Cruise
In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 00:40:43Read transcript
- Quite a few actresses wished they had gotten Allie; Jessica Biel is the most vocal, having called it in an interview the film that got away, though one host no longer acknowledges Jessica Biel.
- Britney Spears would have been terrible, and with Justin Timberlake rumored as Noah a Justin-and-Britney Notebook was probably considered; she is a really bad actress who has never had chemistry with anyone, said with respect; Reese Witherspoon may not be a true rumor, and Ashley Judd would have been too old.
- Timberlake is not a good actor but fun in The Social Network; he later worked with Nick Cassavetes in Alpha Dog with Emile Hirsch, a time capsule of 2006 that nobody saw.
- Steven Spielberg apparently wanted to direct this with Tom Cruise starring, which prompts a wish to ask Spielberg what attracted him, with the war part the guess, and a joke that Kevin Connolly would have fared better; the timing is first placed right after Jerry Maguire, then corrected to around 2002, after Eyes Wide Shut and the Nicole divorce, coming off Minority Report and Vanilla Sky.
- Cruise's Noah would be a different take that would not make the movie work, though possibly accurate to the script, and not the romantic movie we know; the what-ifs are fun because where they landed is so perfect, Gosling was famously cast first, and a DVD extra shows McAdams coming in for her read looking even younger.