Since his 15-year stint on hospital drama ER as Doug Ross, George Clooney has been considered one of the dreamiest men on our screens.

In fact, he was named the Sexiest Man Alive by People Magazine on two separate occasions, first in 1997 and again in 2006, which is really quite impressive.

With all of this in mind, it’s strange to think that in the same period of time that he was dominating our screens – and hearts – he actually pulled lout of a role because he didn’t feel that he was good-looking enough.

That role was the romantic lead in the 2004 flick The Notebook. The emotional rom-com starred Ryan Gosling playing the character Noah in his early years and the late James Garner as the older version of him.

However, at one stage, George and his late friend actor Paul Newman were being lined up for the parts.

Speaking to Deadline in 2020, George said: “We were going to do The Notebook together. Basically, I was going to play him as a young man, and it was funny. We met and said, ‘This is it. It’s going to be great.’”

George then went home and watched a few films from Paul’s back catalogue and became intimidated.

He explained: “He’s one of the handsomest guys you’ve ever seen. We met up [again] and I said, ’I can’t play you. I don’t look anything like you. This is insane.

“We just wanted to do it because we wanted to work together, [but] it ended up being not the right thing for us to do.”

As we know, the role ended up going to Ryan Gosling, cementing his place as a modern-day heartthrob, however other actors thought to have been rumoured at one point included Tom Cruise and Star Wars actor Hayden Christiansen.

Additionally, while Rachel McAdams was perfectly cast for the role of Allie, others who nearly landed the role included Scarlett Johansson, Claire Danes, Amy Adams and, apparently, even Britney Spears.

The Notebook is available to stream on Prime Video now.