The casting director for The Notebook is looking back at Britney Spears‘ audition.
If you didn’t know, the 41-year-old “Toxic” singer auditioned for the role of Allie Hamilton in the 2004 romance movie, which ended up going to Rachel McAdams.
In a new interview, casting director Matthew Barry says he’s still amazed by Britney‘s audition.
Keep reading to find out more…
“Britney Spears was unbelievable. She was absolutely unbelievable,” Matthew shared with Entertainment Tonight. “Britney came in and blew us all away.”
Earlier this week, a video from a then 21-year-old Britney‘s audition was released, in which she delivers an emotional monologue to an off-camera Ryan Gosling, who starred as Noah Calhoun in the movie.
“I’m glad her fans have now gotten a chance to finally see it. And I just honestly, I think she should really go back to it,” Matthew said of Britney‘s audition tape.
If you didn’t know, Britney has known Ryan, 42, ever since they were kids and appeared on The Micky Mouse Club together.
“Ryan and Britney were very professional,” Matthew said. “If you’ve ever met [The Notebook director] Nick Cassavetes, he can be very intimidating at 6 foot 5. Ryan was really cool, he allowed Britney the time to meet with Nick to discuss the role, to discuss the character. And I think once it was all over, then it was, like, reunion time.”
Matthew also said that he wasn’t surprised by how much emotion Britney delivered in her audition.
“We didn’t know what was going on at the time with her and Justin Timberlake. So I think that she absolutely tapped into what was going on at the time,” Matthew explained. “Again we didn’t know. I think she definitely tapped into her emotional depth and brought it out. She showed us she was raw, she was emotional, she was fantastic. She laid it all out on the line.”
Matthew said that Britney was very close to landing the role, but Rachel came in and knocked it out of the park.
“Rachel blew us away.Britney came in, and then Rachel came in, I think, shortly afterwards, and just destroyed us,” Matthew recalled. “It was a very, very hard toss-up between the two of them. There was lots of arguing as there are in any film that ever gets made. I think the studio probably wanted Britney for obvious reasons. But Rachel, it was her role.”
Britney and Rachel aren’t the only two stars that auditioned for the role of Allie in The Notebook.