Can you feel it? The season of romantic comedies is coming. We can’t help but return to our favorite films like When Harry Met Sally… or The Proposal, but there is one rom-com that dominated the psyche of every romantic heart in the 2000s: The Notebook.
While the Nicholas Sparks adapted film gave us Ryan Gosling in his first leading film role as Noah Calhoun and a fantastic performance from Rachel McAdams as Allie Hamilton, we almost saw pop princess Britany Spears take on the role. However, Spears is happy she didn’t take on the role for a few reasons.
You can watch her audition posted by the Daily Mail below:
Britney Spears auditions with Ryan Gosling for The Notebook in 2002
youtu.be
In her upcoming memoir, The Woman In Me, Spears talks about losing The Notebook role, saying, “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,” she said according to People.
“I imagine there are people in the acting field who have dealt with something like that, where they had trouble separating themselves from a character,” Spears said. “I hope I never get close to that occupational hazard again. 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.
The Notebook was based on Nicholas Sparks’ 1996 novel about a young couple who fall in love in the 1940s, while their romance is framed by the couple in their twilight years while one of them suffers from Alzheimer’s. The film was directed by Nick Cassavetes and grossed $115 million worldwide.
Spears had previously starred in 2002’s coming-of-age dramedy Crossroads, a film that was lambasted by critics. However, the film has been re-evaluated over the past few years and is getting a limited run at selected AMCs in the U.S.
While Spears is good in the role, it was for the best that the singer didn’t take on the role for her mental health, which had declined due to the endless publicity she received. While Adams’ performance is iconic in its own right, Spears’ delivers a Southern charm that is undeniably captivating. What could have been was a film that became the event of the year as people flocked to the theater to see a big A-list name on the silver screen, a tactic that studios do today to get audiences in the theater seats.
Spears not getting the role is kind of ironic to see from a 2023 perspective, yet the star knew that acting was not in her cards… not yet at least.
Let us know what you think of Spears’ audition for The Notebook in the comments below.
Source: YouTube
Author: Alyssa Miller
This article comes from No Film School and can be read on the original site.
