It’s a blast from the past that no one saw coming! Over two decades after she auditioned to star alongside the dreamy Ryan Gosling in the iconic movie “The Notebook,” Britney Spears’ entire casting tape has been revealed. Get ready to see a whole new side of Britney Spears as fans get a glimpse of her audition like never before.
In a short clip released by the Daily Mail on October 23, the Grammy-winning pop sensation gets into character as Allie, becoming visibly emotional as she informs Noah (played by Ryan) that she’s about to marry Lon (James Marsden).
“I’m not staying. I tried to call you to tell you that I wasn’t going to stay—but nobody answered the phone,” she says, tears welling up. “Noah, you can’t marry two people. And I’m marrying Lon, so I should go, okay?”
Although Britney didn’t ultimately land the role in the 2004 romantic drama – that honor went to Rachel McAdams – the film’s casting director, Michael Barry, will never forget her incredible audition. “Britney wasn’t just good—she was phenomenal,” he told the Daily Mail, reflecting on the 2002 tryout. “It was a tough decision. Britney blew us all away. Our jaws were on the floor. I was blown away. Absolutely blown away. She brought her A-game that day.”
In her upcoming memoir, “The Woman in Me,” Britney also reveals her relief at not snagging the part. Instead, she was able to focus on her music, saying, “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.” She goes on to explain that she’d have been acting like a 1940s heiress day and night, diverting her from working on her album “In the Zone.”
But the story of “The Notebook” doesn’t end there. Let’s uncover more secrets behind this beloved film.
- The Unbelievable True Inspiration Behind ‘The Notebook
You know what’s pretty surprising? “The Notebook,” that tear-jerking love story, was actually inspired by real-life events. Can you believe it? At the time, author Nicholas Sparks was married to Cathy Cote, and her grandparents had an incredible love story that lasted for over 60 years.
- The Almost Noah: Tom Cruise’s Near Role in ‘The Notebook’
Picture this: Tom Cruise as Noah in “The Notebook.” Believe it or not, it almost happened.
Back in 1996, New Line secured the rights to the novel, and Steven Spielberg expressed keen interest in directing the film. He had someone particular in mind for the lead role – none other than the Top Gun star himself. However, as is often the case in Hollywood, scheduling conflicts threw a wrench into the plan. The project ended up on hold for several years until director Nick Cassavetes stepped in.
Cassavetes was determined to have Ryan Gosling as his leading man, though he had to do some convincing to make it happen. He recalled the skepticism he faced from New Line Cinema, saying, “When I told [New Line Cinema] I wanted to hire Ryan for the lead, they kind of looked at me like I was out of my mind.”
Even Gosling had his own reservations, particularly after his initial meeting with the director.
Gosling shared, “Nick Cassavetes called me to meet him at his house. When I got there, he was standing in his backyard,” recounting the story to British magazine Company, “and he looked at me and said, ‘I want you to play this role because you’re not like the other young actors out there in Hollywood. You’re not handsome, you’re not cool, you’re just a regular guy who looks a bit nuts.'”
- When Britney Spears Almost Became Allie in ‘The Notebook’
It’s almost hard to believe, but Rachel McAdams, before her breakout roles in “Mean Girls” and “Wedding Crashers,” was a relatively unknown actress who had to work hard to secure the role of Allie in “The Notebook.” Director Nick Cassavetes explained, “We found Rachel through an audition process, and she was wonderful. A lot of studios wouldn’t have had the courage to put two relatively unknown people in a movie like this. But they did, and, gosh, weren’t they terrific?”
However, before Rachel McAdams became the iconic Allie, the part was under consideration for someone else – Britney Spears, Ryan Gosling’s former co-star from their Mickey Mouse Club days and one of the world’s biggest pop stars.
Ryan Gosling reminisced about their chemistry test, saying, “I hadn’t seen her really since she was about 12—we were both 12—so she’s grown up, but she was really good, actually. She did a really nice job. We were 12, I don’t remember much from when I was 12, but she did an excellent job, actually. That was cool.”
Interestingly, Rachel McAdams didn’t even learn about Britney Spears’ audition until after filming had wrapped. She reflected, “I’m sure it would have been a totally different movie. I was very fortunate. I was sort of at the end of the line, and I know they’d sort of done a cross-country trip—Nick and Ryan together—looking for the girl, and I sort of squeaked in there.”
- James Marsden’s Surprising Doubt About ‘The Notebook’
James Marsden, who played Lon Hammond Jr. in the film, may have had a touch of bitterness because his character didn’t win the girl’s heart. He once admitted to Out magazine that he had reservations about the movie’s success.
Marsden said, “I never set out to make a bad movie. Some movies just turn out bad, and I want to scream, ‘Why did you pick that take?!’ There are some movies that I’ve been in that I was sure people would laugh at, that have become huge. I thought ‘The Notebook’ was going to be a schmaltzy Movie of the Week–type thing, and here we are!”