Times were simpler back in the early 2000s. Jeans were low; midriffs were exposed; social media wasn’t a thing; and constant trailing by paparazzi had yet to push Britney Spears to her breaking point. Back then, Spears was the biggest popstar in the world and was about to star in her first major feature film, 2002's
Crossroads. Despite the overwhelming fame, according to her costar Justin Long, she was also shockingly nice and normal. And of course, not a girl, not yet a woman.In a new interview with
Us Weekly, Long reminisced about his work on
Crossroads, which starred Spears, Zoe Saldana and Taryn Manning as three best friends who take a cross-country road trip. Canadians Dan Aykroyd and Kim Cattrall played Spears’ parents and Beverly Johnson was Saldana’s mom. Those are some big names, but Britney was certainly the hottest ticket at the time. Long said, however, that it was easy to get over being star-struck by Britney because she was so sweet in person.“I just remember her being so nice,” recalled the host of the
Life is Short With Justin Longpodcast. “She just seemed, like, such a down-to-earth [person]. I remember being so disarmed by how normal she seemed. It was at the height of her fame, and, like, everyone else, I was inundated by images of her. She was so popular, so famous.”Long said he remembers Spears easily integrating with the rest of the cast and crew, something that made a big impact on him and continues to stand out almost two decades later. “You always just sort of assume that [fame] changes people, or they act, I don’t know, larger than life. They act in a grandiose way—and she really didn’t,” he added. “She was just really, really sweet and kind of normal. That’s what I remember.”The coming-of-age film tackled several taboo issues, including pregnancy, rape, parental abandonment, classism, and body image. The concept began as an idea by Spears, and the script was eventually written by Shonda Rhimes. Yes,
that Shonda Rhimes, of
Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal and
How to Get Away with Murder notoriety. The serious subject matter suddenly makes a lot more sense.[video_embed id='1957919']RELATED: What We’re Watching – Double Threats[/video_embed]Rhimes recalled her time with Spears similarly to Long when speaking to
Vice in 2016. The writer said she also remembered being impressed with Spears after meeting her in person. "I was much more interested in the young woman that I met than the image that people had of her. She was a person, and I don't think anyone at the time was looking at her—because it's such a misogynistic society—as a person," said Rhimes. "The idea that we could portray her as a three-dimensional young woman was interesting to me. To have mean-girled her and turned her into a caricature would have been a mistake."Since its release,
Crossroads has become a sort of cult classic among fans. In 2019, Saldana posted a sweet throwback of the film’s leading ladies to honour the fashion of the time. You gotta love it.
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