Britney Spears sobs in her unearthed ‘Notebook’ audition tape
nypost.comBritney Spears came extremely close to snagging the leading role in the movie “The Notebook.”Hollywood casting director Matthew Barry told the Daily Mail that the then 21-year-old pop star’s 2002 audition for the role of Allie “blew us all away” — and that she very nearly got the part in the 2004 film.A newly released video of her audition shows Spears breaking down in tears.“Our jaws were on the floor,” Barry said. “I was blown away.
Absolutely blown away. She brought her A-game that day.”The role of the 1940s heiress who falls in love with Ryan Gosling’s Noah ultimately went to Rachel McAdams.Fans have long known that Spears, now 41, filmed a screen test for the romantic drama, based on Nicholas Sparks’ 1996 novel.But Barry went even further to say that the “Toxic” singer, whose largest screen role has been in the film “Crossroads,” was in the top tier of candidates, beating out actresses such as Scarlett Johansson, Claire Danes, Kate Bosworth, Amy Adams, Jaime King and Mandy Moore.The casting director also unveiled her two-decade-old emotional audition tape, which Spears buffs have been begging to watch for years, in which she emotionally performs Allie’s “I prayed for you to die in the war” monologue.
In the clip, the young actress begins to sob.“Britney wasn’t just good — she was phenomenal,” Barry told the Mail. Still, in her upcoming memoir “The Woman In Me,” out Oct.
24, Spears said she does not regret losing the coveted role to McAdams. “‘The Notebook’ casting came down to me and Rachel McAdams,” Spears wrote.
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