Michelle Monaghan has several successful credits under her belt, including Source Code and The Bourne Supremacy, but after her intriguing star-turn on the HBO megahit True Detective earlier this year, her name is everywhere. And now that she’s starring in a Nicholas Sparks adaptation, her talent is about to reach a huge audience who likely have their tissues at the ready.

The actress sat down for an interview with Refinery29.com recently and spoke a bit about the role, saying she’s not sure where The Best Of Me stacks up against hits like The Notebook, but that it’s definitely one that will tug at the emotions.

“It is Nicholas Sparks, so he definitely has that formula of knowing how to tap into people’s hearts. I would agree that it’s a tearjerker, but I don’t know how it sizes up to The Notebook. It’s definitely emotional, beautiful, passionate, and heartrending. If you’re a fan of The Notebook, then you’re going to love this movie,” she said.

Monaghan also talked about how different the role was for her, considering so many of the characters she’s played have been restrained, in a way. As Maggie Hart on True Detective, she was a woman caught between her love for her two daughters and her troubled marriage to a man who grew more distant with each passing day. Here, she’s able to tap into a softer side.

“For me, this film allowed me to tap into my romantic side, which is something I haven’t been able to do in previous roles. I’ve never been able to do a love story, and this is such a timeless love story. Several of the characters that I’ve played have had a lot of restraint or have been very stoic. I love that this character feels and is expressive. It’s really nice to play that side of myself,” she said.

While The Best Of Me has gotten mixed reviews–as many adaptations of Sparks’ work does–the performance that Monaghan and co-star James Marsden give has consistently been praised, with their chemistry mentioned in several reviews.