Gena Rowlands: The Three Children of Gena Rowlands: All About Nick Cassavetes, Alexandra, and Zoe

 Despite having a successful acting career, Gena Rowlands valued her role as a mother above all others.

The late actress, who passed away on August 14 at the age of 94, was married to the late filmmaker John Cassavetes and had three children: Nick, Alexandra, and Zoe Cassavetes.

Prior to his passing in February 1989, the couple had been wed for more than thirty years. In 2012, Rowlands rekindled her love life when she wed retired businessman Robert Forrest, who assumed the role of stepfather to her children.

Nick, Alexandra, and Zoe have all pursued careers in entertainment, continuing the legacy of their well-known parents. Not only have they acted like their mother, but they have become successful directors. Notably, Nick directed his mother, who played an older Allie, in the 2004 Nicholas Sparks adaptation of The Notebook.

Born on May 21, 1959, Nick Cassavetes is the only son and oldest child of Rowlands and Cassavetes. Nick was raised in the spotlight, spending a large portion of his early years on film sets. In 1970, he starred in his father's movie Husbands.

Upon reaching adulthood, he made the decision to explore an alternative career path and enrolled at Syracuse University on a basketball scholarship. But following a career-ending injury, he enrolled in the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, his parents' alma mater.

Although Nick has acted in a number of movies over the years, such as Face/Off, The Wraith, and Life, he is most recognized for having directed films such as The Notebook and My Sister's Keeper. He got to collaborate with his mother, who portrayed an older Allie, on the latter project.

Later, in September 2004, Rowlands' kids attended the Deauville American Film Festival, where The Notebook made its debut.

Nick has gone to a lot of events with his mother over the years, such as the 2004 Los Angeles premiere of The Notebook and the 1987 Emmy Awards. During the 7th annual Governors Awards ceremony in November 2015, Rowlands received an Honorary Academy Award from him as well. This was one of her last public appearances before she announced her acting retirement.

As the movie approaches its 20th anniversary in June 2024, Nick thought back to his collaboration with her on the popular Nicholas Sparks adaptation. "My mother played the older version of Rachael McAdams' character in the movie, and we spent a lot of time talking about Alzheimer's and wanting to be authentic with it. And now, for the last five years, she's had Alzheimer's," Cassavetes said to Entertainment Weekly regarding his mother's role in the movie. She has complete dementia. We lived it, she acted it out, and now it's all on us. It's crazy."

  In terms of his private life, Nick was once wed to Isabelle Rafalovich, with whom he shared two daughters, Sasha and Virginia. Barbarella is the daughter he shares with Heather Wahlquist, whom he later married.

Born on September 21, 1965, Alexandra "Xan" Cassavetes is the oldest daughter and second child of Rowlands and Cassavetes. She entered the film business at a young age, much like her older brother, appearing in a few of her dad's movies, Husbands and A Woman Under the Influence, which also starred her mother.

She has directed and written more in the past few years, notably the 2004 Cannes Film Festival documentary Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession, which received positive reviews from critics. She wrote the romantic comedy New York, I Love You in 2008, and Kiss of the Damned marked her feature film directing debut the following year.

In October 2013, Alexandra attended The Notebook's Deauville American Film Festival premiere with her mother and brother in tow. Rowlands' husband Robert Forrest accompanied the family as they strolled the red carpet together. With her siblings, Alexandra went to the TCL Chinese Theatre in December 2014 for her mother's hand/footprint ceremony.

Regarding her private life, she was previously wed from 1995 to 2005 to movie producer Rick Ross. They welcomed Veronica and John as their two children during their relationship. 

Born on June 29, 1970, Zoe Cassavetes is Rowlands and Cassavetes' youngest child. Her career in the industry began at the tender age of one, when she appeared in her father's 1971 film Minnie and Moskowitz as an uncredited infant. In 1991, she landed her first official acting role in the movie Ted & Venus.

Along with her friend Sofia Coppola, Zoe created and hosted the Comedy Central television series Hi Octane, which included appearances by Keanu Reeves, Beastie Boys, and Martin Scorsese, among others, in addition to her many acting roles.



Although she gained recognition for writing and directing the 2007 romance-comedy Broken English, she made her directorial debut in 2000 with the short film Men Make Women Crazy Theory.

She appeared in public with her mother at several events over the years, such as the Cannes Film Festival in 1992 and the ACE Awards in 1991, just like her siblings. When their film Broken English made its premiere in September 2007, they strolled the red carpet together at the Deauville American Film Festival.

Regarding her personal life, she is wed to French musician Sebastien Chenut, who is half of the DJ team Scratch Massive.

"If Gena had been born a little earlier, she might have been a different kind of star, more like Mary Astor or Bette Davis, whose work she loved," said Scorsese, drawing comparisons between her and earlier cinematic greats. However, she wed John Cassavetes. She collaborated with many directors, such as Woody Allen, Paul Schrader, Jim Jarmusch, and her son Nick Cassavetes, on some truly amazing projects. However, the images that Gena and John created together—the majority of which were taken in their own house on their own dime—were authentic family portraits created with total autonomy.