Britney Spears Interview

Ever since exploding on to the pop scene with Hit Me Baby One Me Time, Britney Spears has become a superstar celebrity and tabloid favourite. With a string of hits behind her she took a foray into the world of movies in Crossroads. Viewlondon reviewer Matthew Turner caught up with Britney before the release.

Britney, you've been on stage since you were nine - you could have made movies before, why now and why this particular movie?
You know what? I really loved the whole idea of Crossroads. I love the story. I was really inspired by the script and the friendship that the girls have and just knowing that they all had their differences but at the end of the day that they had each other that they could talk to about stuff and I was just really inspired by it and I wanted to put my heart into it.

You've not overloaded the film with songs, there's only two songs in there so I wondered if there was a specific decision to do that?
BS: Actually at the very beginning we weren't even going to have any music, I wasn't even going to sing. My initiative was just to concentrate on the role and the movie and the story but then we started to work on the script and I thought to spice it up a little bit it would be cool to do a song or two.

You've done music, you've done movies, you've done a successful book - is there anything left that Britney Spears would really like to do?
There's a lot! I would love to do more films and do challenging roles, to challenge myself as an actress. I would love to do more albums, maybe produce - you know, who knows? Oh my God, there's so many things I'd love to do.

What do you like to do when you're in London?
What do I like to do? I love the food here. I love going out and going shopping. The theatre here is really cool. Honestly I don't have that many days when I'm off when I'm here but I have cousins here and so I'm definitely going to have to make a trip where I can come and just really be able to chill and relax, cos it's very beautiful.

Films or music - if you had to settle for one?
You know what? I think that music is my heart and my soul, that's what I'm born to do, but I think right now this is so much fun, it's like a whole different ball game, it's a new territory and it's - I kinda wanna focus on that right now, yeah.

Is an Oscar on your list of ambitions Britney?
That would be very nice, that would be very cool. That'll be something that I can dream about.

What was it like seeing yourself on the big screen for the first time?
At first I have to say I was very nervous and it was very nerve-wracking to be there for the first time and see your face up there with all the fans but after a while I just really lost the fact that that was me and I looked at myself as the character Lucy and got lost in the story.

You deal with some quite strong themes in the film, was this deliberate to try and run the gamut of things that you think teenagers are concerned about?
Well I thought it was cool that it was things going on that teenagers in our society deal with every day, they're real issues and for teenagers to see that and to not feel alone and to know that at the end of the day as long as you have your friends that you can talk to about it to, that's what matters.

Your next film is going to be about an intense relationship - are you in an intense relationship with anyone at the moment?
An intense relationship? No, I wouldn't say I'm in an intense relationship right now.