At the height of her pop culture popularity in the early '00s and attempting to transition into Hollywood ("Crossroads" hit theaters in 2002, intended vehicles like "Trading Paint" never quite got off the ground), Britney Spears was in the running for the role of Allie.
In 2013, casting director Matthew Barry spoke with E! News about all the stars who had been in the running for the roles, and had nothing but praise for Spears despite her ultimately not getting cast. "At the height of her career she was like, 'I want to be really prepared for this.' So I said, 'OK, come work with me and my partner'," he recalled. "And she came in eight hours, two days in a row and worked with us. She was fantastic."
Ultimately, director Nick Cassavetes (son of legendary indie filmmaker John and actor Rowlands) was concerned about Spears' fame overwhelming the film, so the project moved on without her. Had Spears been cast, she would have been reunited with Gosling — the two of whom were both part of "The Mickey Mouse Club" when they were younger.
In 2013, Gosling spoke to ET about doing a screen test with Spears. Gosling said, "I hadn't seen her really since she was probably about 12 and we were both 12 ... she was really good actually, she did a really nice job."
In the same interview, McAdams added, "I'm sure Britney would've done a great job. I'm sure it would have been a totally different movie [though]."
