The Notebook rain scene: Was that famous rain real or fake?

You know the Notebook rain scene.

Noah and Allie are standing on the dock in The Notebook, absolutely drenched, arguing about the past. Then comes the kiss, with rain pouring down so hard it looks like Mother Nature deserves a supporting-actor credit.

But The Notebook rain scene wasn’t filmed in a real rainstorm. The filmmakers created the downpour using rain machines and water pumped from the nearby lake.

And apparently, it wasn’t nearly as romantic to film as it looks.

Rachel McAdams later remembered the artificial downpour as “a really powerful, stinging rain.” It was also freezing. She said she and Ryan Gosling mostly just wanted to get out of it, while parts of her period wardrobe were literally falling apart from all the water.

Hollywood gave us one of the most romantic kisses in movie history. Gosling and McAdams apparently experienced something closer to getting pressure-washed in winter. 😂

So our Weather at the Movies verdict is:

FAKE WEATHER. REAL WATER. 🌧️🎬

How did they create The Notebook rain scene?

Director Nick Cassavetes originally tried filming the sequence on a bright, beautiful day.

It didn’t feel right.

Cassavetes later explained that they shut down the shoot and returned on a cloudy winter day because he thought Noah and Allie getting caught in a thunderstorm would make the scene better. Then Hollywood supplied the weather Mother Nature wouldn’t.  

The production brought in rain towers, essentially large metal structures with big sprinklers mounted at the top. The crew positioned them around the actors and adjusted the spray until the water looked like convincing rainfall on camera.  

Rachel McAdams has revealed another wonderfully unromantic detail: the production pumped water from the lake and blasted it through fire hoses because it wasn’t actually raining when they needed it.  

Suddenly that romantic movie rain sounds a little more like getting caught beneath an enormous lawn sprinkler.

Why does fake movie rain look so real?

Here’s where movie magic gets surprisingly weather nerdy.

Cassavetes said too much artificial rain can actually look fake. The filmmakers had to adjust the sprinklers so the rainfall wasn’t too heavy in one place or too thin in another. Lighting mattered too, because rain that’s obvious to your eyes can practically disappear on camera if it isn’t illuminated correctly.  

And the actors weren’t pretending to be miserable.

Cassavetes said the scene was filmed during winter on one of the coldest days, while McAdams has also remembered how cold the shoot was.  

So the next time you watch Noah and Allie soaking wet in one of Hollywood’s most famous romantic scenes, remember what you’re really seeing.

The storm was Hollywood. The water was very, very real.

And somewhere just outside the frame were sprinklers, hoses and a film crew making their own weather.

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