The real-life love stories behind 10 iconic films

AP/Miramax/ Lions Gate Films

Many of the best-told love stories feel at once unexpected and achingly familiar, capable of challenging the viewer's assumptions about love and resonating with their lived experiences all at the same time.

For this reason, it's no surprise that many popular movies are based on real love stories, romances that can be supplemented with memorable dialogue and touching moments (like the ever-quotable "if you're a bird I'm a bird") while still managing to keep the roots of its inspiration intact.

These 10 movies were all in some way inspired by – if not exactly true to – real-life romances.

"The Big Sick"

Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon have made headlines for turning their whirlwind romance into an award-winning film. Gordon really was put into a medically induced coma after an unexplainable illness. The couple really did meet when Gordon heckled Nanjiani's stand-up set. Nanjiani's parents really did want him to be in an arranged marriage.

"I'm maybe a bit more private than Kumail so I was definitely like, 'Oh sh-t, if this all goes great, I'm gonna be on a red carpet being like, and yes, I was in a coma!'" Gordon told People. "That's kind of a weird thing."

"The Notebook"

Nicholas Sparks — the author of the book that was later turned into the now-classic movie — was inspired by his wife's grandparents' unusual love story.

"The way his eyes shined when he looked at her, the way he held her hand, the way he got her tea and took care of her," he recalled on his website. "I remember watching them together and thinking to myself that after sixty years of marriage, these two people were treating each other exactly the same as my wife and I were treating each other after 12 hours."

"Walk the Line"

Johnny and June's on-screen romance melted audiences' hearts in the Oscar-winning biopic "Walk the Line." June Carter Cash helped Johnny write "Ring of Fire" and "Jackson," and Johnny proposed to June on-stage in front of 7,000 strangers in Ontario – as is depicted in one of the more memorable scenes in the film.

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