Cassavetes was born in New York City, the son of Actress Gena Rowlands and Greek-American actor and film Director John Cassavetes. As a child, he appeared in two of his father's films: Husbands (1970) and A Woman Under the Influence (1974). After spending so much of his youth surrounded by the film industry, Cassavetes 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 his parents' alma mater, the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York.
In 1985, Cassavetes married Isabelle Rafalovich. They had two daughters together, Virginia Sara (born 1986) and Sasha (born 1988), before divorcing. He then married Heather "Queenie" Wahlquist, who has appeared in several of his films, including a small role in The Notebook as Sara, a secondary character and best friend to the female lead Allie Hamilton, portrayed by Rachel McAdams. Cassavetes's own mother, Gena Rowlands, appears as the older, married Allie (Hamilton) Calhoun.
He has appeared in the films Face/Off, The Wraith, Life, Class of 1999 II: The Substitute, Backstreet Dreams and The Astronaut's Wife, among others. He has directed several films, including John Q, Alpha Dog, She's So Lovely, Unhook the Stars, The Notebook, and My Sister's Keeper. He also adapted the screenplay for Blow and wrote the dialogue for the Justin Timberlake music video "What Goes Around... Comes Around".
Cassavetes was named as one of the Top 500 Tax Delinquents by the State of California in April 2012. He was cited as owing close to $273,000 in back taxes. In July 2012, he caused some controversy when he defended Incest and linked it to gay marriage.
