NEW ORLEANS -- Make no mistake about it. Pursuing an acting career is vitally important to Britney Spears.
The 20-year-old pop music queen, who makes her debut in the coming-of-age road movie Crossroads -- in theatres Friday -- seems surprised anyone would question her commitment.
In a 1-on-1 exclusive Toronto print media interview with The Sun this past week, Spears discussed just how near and dear it is to her young heart the prospect of making a successful crossover from singer to actress.
"It's something I definitely want to do in the future. Oh, my goodness, yeah," says Spears, looking ever the immaculate blond vision in a lacy cream top, lavender pants and cream boots while seated in an elegant hotel room as Mardi Gras celebrations get under way outside.
"I don't think it's easy. It wasn't easy for me. The whole transition was a little scary at first, but I'm so happy I did it. I'm very, very happy with the movie, so we'll see what happens. I'll be curious to see."
Not helping matters is that both Mariah Carey and NSYNC's Lance Bass recently bombed in their film debuts, but Spears said their failures didn't make her any more nervous about her chances.
"I'm ambitious and I like to challenge myself and I like to push myself and so it made me want to really go there just to see if I could do it. Just to see. But it's not even so much about it being the biggest movie in the world. As long as my fans can go to it and be touched by it in its own way."
In Crossroads, Spears plays Lucy, a goody-two-shoes valedictorian who winds up losing her virginity to the ruggedly handsome Ben (Anson Mount) during a road trip to Los Angeles in his 1973 Buick convertible. Also along for the ride are Lucy's two childhood friends played by Taryn Manning (Crazy/Beautiful) and Zoe Saldana (Center Stage, Get Over).
It's an adolescent girl's fantasy come true, and yet the movie is rated PG-13 for "sexual content and brief teen drinking," so it might not be appropriate for all of Spears' legion of young female fans.
"I think that it's up to the parent to decide," Spears says. "And my sister's 10 years old and she went to go see the movie and she loved it."
Still, Spears -- who, like it or not, is a role model to an entire generation -- also sports some pretty sexy getups in the film.
The opening scene features her in just a tank top and underwear lip-synching to Madonna's Open Your Heart in her bedroom. That is followed by an even hotter scene in which she emerges from a bathroom in a black blazer with just a pink lace bra and panties underneath as she prepares to sleep with her high school lab partner (Justin Long) before they both realize it would be a mistake.
"Well, I can't be wearing a bathrobe when I'm about to make love to someone, so you kind of have to go with the character and see what Lucy would wear," she says. "All of those were my decisions (as to) what I felt she'd wear."
For the record, there are no sex scenes in Crossroads. When Lucy decides to go all the way with Ben, all you see is a long kiss before they both take off their shirts (she has a camisole underneath). Then the camera pans to a setting sun.
Spears, who once loudly proclaimed that she wanted to remain a virgin until she got married, says Lucy's decision was already in the script courtesy of screenwriter Shonda Rhimes (Introducing Dorothy Dandridge).
"Actually, the writer came up with that. It was in the script. It totally fit. I thought it was necessary for the character. I thought it made sense."
Spears -- who is dating fellow pop star Justin Timberlake of NSYNC -- appeared last weekend on Saturday Night Live as host and performer and wasted no time making fun of the "virginity issue" in the TV show's opening monologue.
"The whole monologue was my idea with me and Chris Kattan, him dressed up like me," she says. "But all the wording and stuff was their idea. I loved it. I thought it was brilliant. Before, they had something that I really didn't like."
The script was rewritten to her satisfaction.
Spears says "hopefully" people will move on from the all-consuming question of "is she or isn't she still a virgin?" For the record, she refuses to discuss the matter with reporters.
Crossroads also features three of Spears' songs -- I'm Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman, Overprotected, and I Love Rock 'N' Roll from her latest album, Britney. That's why there won't be a soundtrack CD for this movie. Heaven forbid that anything competes with her third record, released last November. Her first album, 1999's ... Baby One More Time, sold 21 million copies and her 2000 followup, Oops! ... I Did It Again, sold 17 million.
"Most of the cool songs are on my album and it really wouldn't make sense to have a soundtrack," she says.
Spears, a native of Kentwood, La., saw Crossroads for the first time last Tuesday night with an audience in a New Orleans theatre.
The screening, which she attended with her entire family including 10-year-old sister Jamie Lynn (who has a brief role in the film as a younger version of Lucy), was accompanied by major hoopla. There were searchlights outside the theatre, a phalanx of photographers and reporters, celebrity guests including the band No Doubt, and even a red carpet.
The official premiere takes place tomorrow night in L.A. Spears will appear on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on Tuesday night.
"I was so nervous at first," she says, "because I was there with my friends and my family and everybody, but once the movie started going along and once everyone started really getting into it and they were laughing at stuff, it made me feel better."
What about her perfectionist tendencies?
"There were certain scenes where I was like, 'Oh, Britney. Why did you look that way?' But I kind of got lost in the character and was just feeling sorry for Lucy. I really saw it like that."
Without revealing too much, Lucy -- who is being raised by a single dad (Dan Aykroyd) -- goes in search of her mother (Kim Cattrall) during the road trip.
And even if Spears' movie doesn't succeed, there could be another actress in her family.
"You know what? I definitely think Jamie Lynn's going to do something," Spears says. "I don't know what it is, but the girl's going to do something. She has a mind of her own. She knows what she wants and she's a performer. She's already, every night, in the bathtub ... singing and dancing. Mama has to tell her to get out of the tub.
"She's going to take the world by storm."
Kind of like someone else.
Spears already has another film project in the works -- "a dramedy" was all she would say, but it's not a done deal.
Her favourite actresses? Goldie Hawn and Julia Roberts.
Her wish-list for male co-stars is predictable: "Listen to me. I'm like, 'Brad Pitt. George Clooney. Tom Cruise.' "
Then there's Robert De Niro.
Mount was in the middle of making City By The Sea, with De Niro in New York, when he was asked to audition for Crossroads.
Apparently, De Niro read lines with Mount, with De Niro reading Britney's.
"Anson told me about that," Spears says. "It's bizarre. It's completely bizarre. I was like, 'What? ... Okay.' "
POP GIRLS ON FILM
Britney follows in the footsteps of some notable singers
MADONNA
Track Record: Like A Virgin (1984), True Blue (1986) and bushels more hit records.
Big Screen Debut: Desperately Seeking Susan (1985). Basically played herself as she was incarnated back then -- a sexy, unstable hedonist in skimpy clothes. Come to think of it, that pretty much still applies today.
Action! Call Desperately virgin's luck. Madonna went on to star in the painfully unfunny Shanghai Surprise and Who's That Girl before plunging into sexploitation (Body Of Evidence), indie flicks (Four Rooms) and a big-budget musical (Evita). Despite a host of other misfires, she gives it another shot with the upcoming Love, Sex & Drugs, directed by hubby Guy Ritchie.
CYNDI LAUPER
Track Record: She's So Unusual (1984), True Colors (1986) and a bunch of other albums you don't remember.
Big Screen Debut: Vibes (1988). What a stretch -- Lauper plays an oddball in her "comedy" debut. She and Jeff Goldblum are psychics who search for a magical lost city in the mountains of Ecuador. It's as good as it sounds.
Cut! The girl just wants to make movies -- but should we let her? Lauper went on to star in such fondly remembered classics as Off And Running, Life With Mikey and The Opportunists. Sadly, her film career is still more productive than her musical one -- but she could always fall back to managing beloved pro wrestler Captain Lou Albano.
SUSANNA HOFFS
Track Record: With girl group The Bangles, recorded All Over The Place (1984), Different Light (1986) and Everything (1988). Solo credits include When You're A Boy (1991) and Susanna Hoffs (1996).
Big Screen Debut: The Allnighter (1988). The sloe-eyed Hoffs plays a fun-loving co-ed who looks for Mr. Right in a comedy written and directed by her mom (below right). Was mama Hoffs the one who put Susanna in that skimpy bikini? Actually, we really don't want to know.
Cut! Susanna who? Exactly. Has walked like an Egyptian right out of the limelight for years now.
JEWEL
Track Record: Pieces Of You (1995), A Night Without Armor (1998), Joy: A Holiday Selection (1998), This Way (2001).
Big Screen Splash: Ride With The Devil (1999). She plays Sue Lee, a winsome country girl who falls in love with vittles-lovin' cowboy Tobey Maguire.
Action! Mammary mia! Jewel's decent performance is overshadowed by the gratuitous performance of her, er, jewels, as she breastfeeds a baby in front of a salivating Maguire. She hasn't appeared in other flicks, though she says she'd love to do a comedy. Considering the comedic resumes of the previous artists, here's some advice: For the love of God, don't.
MARIAH CAREY
Track Record: Her musical career has gone from the giddy highs of her debut Mariah Carey (1990) to the Stygian abyss of her Glitter soundtrack (2001).
Big Screen Splash: Glitter (2001). Your Best Film Oscar winner right here.
Cut! Shortly before the movie's release, Carey went bonkers and was placed under psychiatric care for an emotional and physical breakdown -- which is a walk in the park compared to what happened to the people who saw Glitter.
- compiled by Derek Tse
