Nick Cassavetes is an actor and filmmaker who appeared as a child in Husbands (1970) and A Woman Under the Influence (1974). After spending much of his youth surrounded by the film industry, he initially decided he did not want to go into the field. He instead attended Syracuse University on a basketball scholarship. His athletic career was effectively ended by an injury, and he decided to rethink his aspirations, ultimately deciding to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York. He has appeared in the films Face/Off (1997), The Wraith (1986), Life (1999), Class of 1999 II: The Substitute (1994), Backstreet Dreams (1990) and The Astronaut's Wife (1999), among others. He has directed several films, including John Q (2002), Alpha Dog (2006), She's So Lovely (1997), Unhook the Stars (1996), The Notebook (2004), and My Sister's Keeper (2009). He also adapted the screenplay for Blow (2001) and wrote the dialogue for the Justin Timberlake music video, "What Goes Around... Comes Around".