4.
The
filmmakers
cast
relatively
unknown
actresses
Taryn
Manning and
Zoe
Saldaña to
play
Spears’
on-screen
best
friends. Saldaña
even
had
to
use
her
agent’s
frequent
flier
miles
to
fight
for
the
role
in-person
after
bombing
her
taped
audition.
5.
Anson
Mount
was
picked
by
Spears
to
play
her
on-screen
love
interest,
though
the
actor
didn’t
initially
have
interest
in
the
project.
It
was
none
other
than
his
City
By
the
Sea
co-star
Robert
De
Niro
who
convinced
him
to
audition.
“I
was
reading
[the
script]
between
takes,
and
Bob
came
up
to
me
and
goes, ‘What
are
you
doing?’
and
so
I
said,’Errr,
it’s
this
movie
and
Britney
Spears
is
doing
it,
I’m
not
even
sure
if
I’m
going
to
do
it,
I’m
just
reading
it,'”
Mount
said
at
a
2002
press
conference. “And
he
goes, ‘Why
not?
She’s
great.’
So
I
showed
him
the
script,
and
he
read
Britney’s
lines
to
my
Ben.”
6.
The
main
cast
bonded
while
filming
the
road
trip
movie,
with
Rhimes
describing
Spears
as “very
cheerful,
very
fun.”
“I
think
it
was
so
different
from
being
on
the
road
and
doing
concerts—being
able
to
stay
in
one
place
and
be
with
the
same
group
of
people
all
the
time,” Rhimes
explained
to
Vice
in
2016. “It
was
the
first
time
I
think
she
had
hung
out
with
people
her
own
age.
When
she
was
on
the
road,
it
was
her
and
a
team
of
people,
but
this
was
her,
and
Taryn,
and
Zoe,
and
Anson.
They
were
all
sort
of
the
same
age,
and
I
think
they
had
fun
together.”
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