<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"  Photo: 2012 Safe Haven productions, photograph by James Bridges With Safe Haven out on Valentine&amp;#039;s Day, ELLE chatted with director (and the master of on-screen heartbreak) Nicholas Sparks about why his leading men\u2014Ryan Gosling in The Notebook, Channing Tatum in Dear John, and now Josh Duhamel, who plays Julianne Hough&amp;#039;s clumsy-cute love interest in Safe Haven\u2014always have us at hello. Here is the extended version of Sparks&amp;#039;s interview from our March issue, on stands now: ELLE: How would you describe Josh Duhamel&amp;#039;s character in Safe Haven? Nicholas Sparks: He&amp;#039;s complicated. He&amp;#039;s a guy whose life hasn&amp;#039;t quite turned out the way he imagined it would. The only thing he really knows is that it would be nice if there was someone along with him for the ride. ELLE: Your protagonists are usually the sensitive, wounded type. Is that intentional? NS: I try to make characters that are real, and to be quite frank, I&amp;#039;ve yet to meet anybody that doesn&amp;#039;t feel wounded in some way. Sadness, loss, unfulfilled dreams, the girl that got away, regrets, those things are part of everyone&amp;#039;s life\u2014and those are the kind of characters I create. ELLE: What is the common thread? NS: I try to make them real and not cookie-cutter perfect. In other words, they&amp;#039;re all flawed; it&amp;#039;s just that their flaws aren&amp;#039;t so bad that you wouldn&amp;#039;t want to be with them. They&amp;#039;re not physically abusive, they&amp;#039;re not wild drunks, they&amp;#039;re not violent, they&amp;#039;re not serial killers. They&amp;#039;re just like everybody else. ELLE: Noah [in The Notebook] is like the perfect storm. I can&amp;#039;t imagine any woman not finding him attractive, regardless of physical preferences. NS: Of course, of course! He&amp;#039;s a guy who loves her no matter what. That&amp;#039;s who Noah was. Maybe that&amp;#039;s a good thing. It&amp;#039;s the charm of that story. I hate to say it, but that&amp;#039;s the charm of that story. ELLE: What is it about Josh Duhamel in Safe Haven that is going to get the women going? NS: He&amp;#039;s the guy that does the right thing even when it&amp;#039;s hard. There&amp;#039;s something to be said for that good old fashioned, you do it because, well, it&amp;#039;s the right thing to do kind of guy. Keep up to date on the latest breaking pop culture news stories. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.elle.com/culture/music/news/a16278/nicholas-sparks-safe-haven-interview/>