Ryan Gosling's scrap with leading lady revealed

Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams steamed up screens in The Notebook - but there was tension on set, the film's director has revealed.

Film director Nick Cassavetes has revealed he was pressured to remove Rachel McAdams from the set of the romantic drama The Notebook by her leading man Ryan Gosling.

The director has opened up about tensions behind the scenes of the hit 2004 film, admitting the high drama helped to make the movie the instant classic it became.

Celebrating the 10th anniversary of the film, Cassavetes says Gosling butt heads with McAdams so much that he asked for her to be removed from the set.

"Maybe I'm not supposed to tell this story, but they were really not getting along one day on set. Really not. And Ryan came to me, and there's 150 people standing in this big scene, and he says, 'Nick, come here'.

"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?'" Cassavetes told VH1.

Rather than fire his leading lady, Cassavetes suggested the two stars took a break and worked out their issues in private.

"We went into a room with a producer; they started screaming and yelling at each other. I walked out. At that point I was smoking cigarettes. I smoked a cigarette and everybody came out like, 'All right, let's do this'.

"It got better after that. They had it out ... I think Ryan respected her for standing up for her character and Rachel was happy to get that out in the open. The rest of the film wasn't smooth sailing, but it was smoother sailing."

Ironically, the Gosling and McAdams became an item once filming wrapped. The pair dated from 2005 to 2007.

Just before they split, Gosling told GQ magazine, "(The Notebook) introduced me to one of the great loves of my life. 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."

- WENN