Gena Rowlands' 3 Kids: All About Alexandra, Zoe and Nick Cassavetes

Rowlands and her late husband John Cassavetes had three children together, Alexandra, Zoe and Nick Cassavetes

Gena Rowlands had an illustrious acting career, but one of her biggest roles in life was being a mom.

The late actress, who died at age 94 on Aug. 14, was the mother of three children, Nick, Alexandra and Zoe Cassavetes, whom she shared with her late husband, filmmaker John Cassavetes.

The couple was married for over 30 years before his death in February 1989. Rowlands later found love again as she married retired businessman Robert Forrest in 2012, who became stepfather to Rowlands’ kids.

Nick, Alexandra and Zoe have all followed in their famous parents' footsteps in the entertainment industry. In addition to acting like their mother, they have also forged careers as directors. Notably, Nick directed his mom in the Nicholas Sparks adaptation of The Notebook in 2004, where she played an older Allie.

Here’s everything to know about Rowlands’ children.

Related: Gena Rowlands' Life and Career in Pictures

Nick Cassavetes

Nick Cassavetes is Rowlands and Cassavetes’ oldest child and only son, who was born on May 21, 1959. Growing up in the spotlight, Nick spent much of his childhood on sets and appeared in his father’s film Husbands in 1970.

As he grew older, he decided to try a different career path and attended Syracuse University on a basketball scholarship. However, after a career-ending injury, he enrolled in his parents' alma mater, the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York.

While Nick has acted in several films through the years, including Face/Off, The Wraith and Life, he is well known for his directing career, notably helming My Sister's Keeper and The Notebook. On the latter project, he was able to work with his mom, who played older Allie.

Rowlands' children later joined her for The Notebook premiere at the Deauville American Film Festival in September 2004.

Over the years, Nick has attended many events alongside his mother, including the 1987 Emmy Awards and the Los Angeles premiere of The Notebook in 2004. He also awarded her an Honorary Academy Award in November 2015 during the 7th annual Governors Awards ceremony, which marked one of Rowlands’ final public appearances before retiring from acting.

In honor of the film’s 20th anniversary in June 2024, Nick reflected on working with her for the hit Nicholas Sparks adaptation. "I got my mom to play older Allie, 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 told Entertainment Weekly about his mother who played the older version of Rachael McAdams’ character in the film. "She's in full dementia. And it's so crazy — we lived it, she acted it, and now it's on us."

As for his personal life, Nick was previously married to Isabelle Rafalovich, with whom he has two daughters, Virginia and Sasha. He later married Heather Wahlquist, with whom he shares a daughter named Barbarella.

Related: Gena Rowlands’ Son Nick Cassavetes Shares Sweet Fan Tributes After Her Death at 94: ‘Rest Easy Gina’

Alexandra Cassavetes

Alexandra "Xan" Cassavetes is Rowlands and Cassavetes’ second child and oldest daughter, born on Sept. 21, 1965. Like her older brother, she became immersed in the film industry at a young age, making small appearances in her dad’s films, Husbands and A Woman Under the Influence, the latter of which also starred her mom.

In recent years, she has put more of her focus on writing and directing, including the 2004 documentary Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession, which gained critical acclaim at the Cannes Film Festival. In 2008, she was a writer for the romantic comedy New York, I Love You and in 2012, she made her feature film directorial debut with Kiss of the Damned.

In October 2013, Alexandra supported her brother and mother at the premiere of The Notebook at the Deauville American Film Festival. The family walked the red carpet together alongside Rowlands’ husband Robert Forrest. In December 2014, Alexandra attended her mother's hand/footprint ceremony at the TCL Chinese Theatre along with her siblings.

As for her personal life, she was formerly married to film producer Rick Ross from 1995 to 2005. During the course of their relationship, they welcomed two children, Veronica and John.

Zoe Cassavetes

Zoe Cassavetes is the youngest child of Rowlands and Cassavetes, who was born on June 29, 1970. Her career in the industry started at the ripe age of one when she had an uncredited role as a baby in her father’s film Minnie and Moskowitz in 1971. Her first official acting role came in 1991 for the film Ted & Venus.

Aside from various acting roles, Zoe notably created and hosted the Comedy Central television series Hi Octane alongside her friend Sofia Coppola, which featured appearances from Keanu Reeves, Beastie Boys and Martin Scorsese, among others.

She made her directorial debut in 2000 with the short film Men Make Women Crazy Theory but is well known for directing and writing the 2007 romance-comedy film Broken English, which starred Parker Posey and her mother.

Like her siblings, she made various public appearances with her mother through the years, including the ACE Awards in 1991 and the Cannes Film Festival in 1992. In September 2007, they walked the red carpet together at the Deauville American Film Festival as they debuted their movie Broken English.

On the personal front, she is married to Sebastien Chenut, a French artist who is one-half of the DJ duo Scratch Massive.

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