Britney Spears made it clear in a recent excerpt from her new book , The Woman In Me , that she's done acting. In retrospect, however, there was one role she regretted turning down. In her memoir, she revealed that she turned down a role in 2002's Oscar-winning " Chicago ," based on the long-running Broadway musical.
Spears explained that when she was on the Dream Within a Dream tour in 2001, studio executives visited the venue where she was performing and personally approached her with a role . "I wasn't sure I wanted to act again after 'Crossroads ,' but I was drawn to this one," she wrote. "That's Chicago ."
At that time, she had turned down "three or four movies" and chose "Chicago." "I was immersed in the stage performance," she wrote. "I don't want to be distracted from the music. I'm happy doing what I'm doing."
More than two decades later, however, Spears still regrets the decision.
Why Spears regrets turning down Chicago
In the memoir, Spears said she "should have gone" to Chicago to expand her artistic abilities and use her power before it was taken away from her by her conservatorship.
"I had power then; I wish I had used it more thoughtfully, more rebelliously," she wrote. " Chicago would be fun. It's all dance pieces—my favorite kind: prim, girly silliness, Pussycat Dolls, corset-off moves. I wish I had accepted the offer."
The singer did not reveal which role she was asked to play. However, she noted that she "could have played a murderous villain and danced and sang."
That means she'll likely be part of the musical's key number, "Cell Block Tango," and may even play one of the leads, either Roxie Hart or Velma Kelly, Renée Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones received Oscar nominations for it.
Why she doesn't regret losing her notebook
As revealed in an excerpt ahead of the release of her book, Spears almost starred opposite her former Mickey Mouse Club co-star Ryan Gosling in The Notebook , with the casting split between her and Rachel McAdams Decide. However, she doesn't actually regret losing the role.
That audition came right after her film debut, Crossroads , and essentially caused her to give up acting altogether, as she found it difficult to separate herself from the character.
"My problem is not with anyone involved in the production, but with the effect the performance had on me," she wrote. "I think I got into method acting - I just didn't know how to get out of my character. I really became a different person."
For "Chicago," Spears believes she was able to change her approach and adopt an acting method that was healthier for her. "I might find a way, get training, to avoid being a Chicago character, like I did with Lucy in 'Crossroads ,'" she commented.
“I wanted to try something different.”
