Jessica Biel Recalls 'Very Strange' Audition Experience with Ryan Gosling for The Notebook While 'Covered in Blood'

Published: May 22, 2025

Jessica Biel remembered a bizarre audition story from her past while appearing on the May 21 episode of The View. The Better Sister star opened up about auditioning for the role of Allie in classic 2004 romance, The Notebook, opposite Ryan Gosling.

Calling the audition and potential role "the greatest option" for her career, Biel shared that the tryout happened while she was filming the horror film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre in 2003.

Admitting she's wary of accidentally "accentuating the story," Biel said she believed she was "covered in blood" during her audition with Gosling and director Nick Cassavettes.

"Ryan and the director came to my trailer, they came to us on location," Biel shared. "And we auditioned in my trailer at work. And I didn't get it."

Jessica Biel in 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.'

Despite losing the role to actress Rachel McAdams, the audition clearly stands out in the 7th Heaven star's mind.

"In my mind I just remember having blood on me and being in that white tank top. I took my cowboy hat off, and I was like, 'Okay, I'd love to fall in love with you. Let's do this,'" she recalled, laughing. "It was very strange, very Hollywood moment."

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The epic love story, which was adapted from Nicholas Sparks' bestselling novel of the same name, followed McAdams' Allie and Gosling's Noah love story, which spanned years as class discrepancies and outside forces kept them apart.

Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams in 'The Notebook'

The film sparked a real-life romance between Gosling and McAdams, who dated from 2005 to 2007.

Biel isn't the only big name to audition for the highly coveted part. Pop star Britney Spears also threw her name into the ring, with her audition tape being released in 2023. Casting director Matthew Barry previously shared with E! News that other actresses considered for the part were Reese Witherspoon, Kate Beckinsale, Jennifer Lawrence, and Jane McGregor.

Costar James Marsden, who played Allie's fiancé Lon in the film, recently opened up to PEOPLE about whether he felt Allie and Lon should have ended up together over Allie and Noah as some fans have claimed over the years.

"The dynamic between [Allie and Noah] and their chemistry was undeniable," Marsden told PEOPLE. "And so I think, yeah, she should have ended up with Noah. That kind of love in that movie can be fiery and it can still be the right thing, the right person to be with."