Britney Spears's Never-Before-Seen 'The Notebook' Audition Has Finally Been Released

Just a week after Britney Spears confirmed that she auditioned for the role of Allie in Nicholas Sparks’s The Notebook back in the early 2000s — a now-iconic part that ultimately went to Rachel McAdams — we’re finally getting a look at what could have been.

In a never-before-seen audition tape shared with The Daily Mail on Monday, Spears can be seen screen testing for the role alongside Ryan Gosling (whose voice is heard off-camera) as she delivers a pivotal monologue from the film. In the clip, Spears, who wore a sheer crochet blouse and a pearl necklace during the audition, grows emotional as she discusses whether she should stay with Gosling’s Noah or marry Lon Hammond, played by James Marsden.

Hollywood casting director Matthew Barry, who shared the clip with the outlet, explained that although Britney was "phenomenal" during the audition, McAdams was a better fit for the role in the end.

"It was a tough decision. Britney blew us all away. Our jaws were on the floor. I was blown away. Absolutely blown away. She brought her A-game that day,” Barry said. “Britney beat out several of the top female actresses at the time. Scarlett Johansson, Claire Danes, Kate Bosworth, Amy Adams, Jaime King, and Mandy Moore auditioned for this role. Britney beat out all of them. Everybody who was anybody that year wanted this part."

While this is the first time that the public is getting an idea of what Spears would have been like in the film, the clip’s release comes shortly after she opened up about her audition in an excerpt from her upcoming memoir, The Woman in Me (out Oct. 24).

“​​The Notebook casting came down to me and Rachel McAdams, and even though it would have been fun to reconnect with Ryan Gosling after our time on the Mickey Mouse Club, I’m glad I didn’t do it,” she shared in the excerpt, which was published by People. “If I had, instead of working on my album In the Zone, I’d have been acting like a 1940s heiress day and night.”

McAdams also previously spoke about the potential casting when talking to Entertainment Tonight nearly two decades prior, sharing, “I’m sure Britney would have done a great job! I’m sure it would have been a totally different movie, but yeah, I just heard that the other day. I had no idea! I was very fortunate.”

She added, “I was sort of at the end of the line, and I know they’d sort of done a cross-country trip — Nick and Ryan together — looking for the girl, and I am glad I just kind of squeaked in there.”