Jessica Biel Recalls ‘Bizarre’ ‘The Notebook’ Audition With Ryan Gosling

Every actor has an odd or uncomfortable audition. While stories range from outrageously awful to mildly disconcerting, not all are embarrassing to talk about. For Jessica Biel, one strange audition for “The Notebook” didn’t lead to her getting the role she coveted, but she did get an interesting story out of it.

Jessica Biel Auditioned for ‘The Notebook’ While Covered in Blood

“I’m racking my brain to make sure I’m not accentuating the story,” Biel told “The View” hosts. As she explained that she was shooting the “Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” Whoopi Goldberg said, “Of course you were covered in blood,” and Biel agrees, saying, “See? I must’ve been covered in blood, and then I auditioned for “The Notebook,” which was going to be the greatest option for me in my career. What an amazing thing to get after that.”

“Ryan [Gosling] and the director [Nick Cassavetes] came to my trailer, they came to us at the location,” she continued. “And we auditioned in my trailer at work. And I didn’t get it, of course, we know this is the answer. In my mind, I just remember having blood on me, in that white tank top. Took my cowboy hat off and was like, ‘Okay, I’d love to fall in love with you, let’s do this. It was very strange, very Hollywood moment.”

Biel once told Elle that she looks at The Notebook as the role that got away. Nick Cassavetes put me through the wringer in an interesting, excitingly creative way,” she said. “But there’s a million that get away. We’re gluttons for punishment. It’s just rejection.”

Britney Spears Was This Close to Beating Rachel McAdams for the Role of Allie

We now know that many other actresses were considered for the role of Allie. Casting director Matthew Barry revealed to E! News that Britney Spears, Jaime King, Jennifer Love Hewitt, and Rachel McAdams were brought in to read with Gosling on the last day of filming. Spears was a strong contender, and her history with Gosling on “The Mickey Mouse Club” meant she already had experience working with him.

“They loved Britney,” Barry said. “It was probably between Rachel and Britney at the time.”

But in the end, McAdams blew everyone away with her audition and chemistry with Gosling. “The depression set in because I said to myself, ‘Is a studio really going to make a $30 million movie with Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams?'” Barry recalled. But he and Cassavetes fought for her, and McAdams ultimately won the role of Allie.