Britney Spears' forgotten audition for The Notebook: Producers were "blown away"

20 June 2025, 17:42

A resurfaced tape reveals the pop icon’s emotional screen test opposite Ryan Gosling — and how close she came to landing the role of Allie.

Britney Spears once came remarkably close to landing the lead role in the smash-hit film, The Notebook.

In 2002, at the height of her early-2000s fame, the Princess of Pop auditioned for the lead role of Allie Hamilton in The Notebook, ultimately starring Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams — but Spears was in serious contention.

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A recently surfaced audition tape and fresh interviews reveal the pop icon blew producers away with her portrayal of the lead female character, Allie Hamilton.

In the emotional clip, Britney reads opposite Ryan Gosling — her fellow Mickey Mouse Club alum — delivering a tearful monologue that could have rewritten pop culture history.

Matthew Barry, casting director on The Notebook, publicly praised Spears’s performance, telling E! News that she had blown them away.

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"Our jaws were on the floor," he said of the young starlet's audition.

" was blown away... Absolutely blown away. She brought her A‑game that day."

He also noted that she was among the final candidates, beating out high-profile names like Scarlett Johansson, Claire Danes, Amy Adams, and Jessica Biel.

Britney Spears' final audition for The Notebook in 2002:

The Notebook Britney Spears audition. #thenotebook #britneyspear #audition

From Forbes to Teen Vogue, commentators echoed that sentiment, praising Britney's emotional depth.

Although Rachel McAdams and Gosling’s chemistry defined the film’s romance, Vogue named Spears’s near-miss as one of "nine Hollywood casting switch-ups that shaped millennial culture" — a reminder of what might have been.

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The Notebook, the best-selling 1996 novel by Nicholas Sparks, adapted into the beloved 2004 film and a Broadway musical in 2024, follows the sweeping decades-long love story of Noah Calhoun and Allie Hamilton.

Set in the American South in the 1940s, the narrative unfolds through a series of flashbacks as an elderly man reads a worn notebook to a woman in a nursing home.

Rachel McAdam's Notebook audition that landed her the role:

AUDITION TAPE: Rachel McAdams audition for The Notebook

Their romance – marked by youthful passion, class divides and wartime separation – has captivated audiences for a generation, and is seen by many as the most romantic movie of the 21st century.

In an interview after the film came out, The Notebook's director explained why the role eventually went to Rachel McAdams.

Nick Cassavetes said: “When Miss McAdams came in and read, it was apparent that she was the one. She and Ryan had great chemistry between them."

Cassavetes also emphasised that her audition captured the emotional sparks needed to drive the romance at the heart of the film.

Years later, Spears shared her experience of auditioning for The Notebook in her 2023 memoir The Woman in Me.

She revealed she was in a final casting call with Rachel McAdams and wrote: "The Notebook casting came down to me and Rachel McAdams… I’m glad I didn’t do it. … I’d have been acting like a 1940s heiress day and night."

Spears explained that her experience on the 2002 film Crossroads taught her that method acting could overwhelm her identity: "Living that way, being half yourself and half a fictional character… you don’t know what’s real anymore."

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