Crossroads, a classic millennial coming-of-age film, might have been the beginning of an illustrious film career for Britney Spears. So why wasn’t it? In her new memoir, The Woman in Me, Spears writes that she realised the life of a thespian wasn’t for her when she got a little too into character. “That was pretty much the beginning and end of my acting career, and I was relieved,” she said.
In an excerpt from the book published in People, Spears explained, “My problem wasn’t with anyone involved in the production but with what acting did to my mind.” She thinks she started Method acting by accident—and didn’t like the experience. “I didn’t know how to break out of my character,” she said. “I really became this other person. Some people do Method acting, but they’re usually aware of the fact that they’re doing it. But I didn’t have any separation at all.”
This is why, Spears wrote in her memoir, she was ultimately glad she lost the lead role in The Notebook. “The Notebook casting came down to me and Rachel McAdams, and even though it would have been fun to reconnect with Ryan Gosling after our time on the Mickey Mouse Club, I’m glad I didn’t do it. If I had, instead of working on my album In the Zone, I’d have been acting like a 1940s heiress day and night.”
In 2021, casting director Matthew Barry told DailyMail.com that it was a “close call” between Britney Spears and McAdams for the part of Allie, which turns out to have been for the best for everyone.
“Living that way, being half yourself and half a fictional character, is messed up. After a while you don’t know what’s real anymore,” Spears wrote.
This story was originally published on GLAMOUR US.