LOS ANGELES (Yahoo) -
Britney Spears makes her feature film debut in Crossroads, which opens in U.S. theaters Friday (February 15). The movie tells the story of three childhood friends-Lucy (Spears), Mimi (Taryn Manning), and Kit (Zoe Saldana)-who, after spending eight years apart, rekindle their friendship on a cross-country road trip.
Spears told that her own life-long friendships with three of her girlfriends was what inspired her to do the movie, which was written specifically with her in mind. "I think that I have been really, really blessed with my friendships that I have right now," she said. "I have three girlfriends. That's kind of what inspired me to do the movie-is I still have my girlfriends that I grew up with. We went to daycare with each other-Courtney, Laura Lynn, and Jansen."
The 20-year-old singer-actress added that she hopes young girls who see the movie will be moved by how important friendships can be. "Honestly, I thought everybody had that. That's why I wanted to do the movie. I wanted girls to go and see the movie and be inspired by that, and to want that," she added.
The movie tackles difficult teen issues such as first-time sex, unwanted pregnancy, implied date rape, miscarriage, and love-all while Spears's character Lucy is on a cross-country trek to find her estranged mother, portrayed by Kim Cattrall of HBO's Sex And The City.
Spears readily admits that she's a bit nervous about how her first major acting role in a feature film will be received by her fans, but she's not really concerned about the opinions of the movie critics. "They (the critics) can talk about personal stuff and whatever as much as they want, but as long as they don't talk about-knock on wood-my performance and what I do. That would really hurt," she explained. "But so far, they haven't really gone there."
"I probably shouldn't have said that," Spears added with a smile.
However, Spears has every right to be a bit apprehensive, especially since many of the recent offerings from pop-stars-turned-actors and actresses have been panned by critics and fans alike. Mariah Carey's Glitter and *NSYNC members Lance Bass and Joey Fatone's On The Line were out of theaters and on video store shelves before moviegoers could blink, but all hope is not lost. Pop princess Mandy Moore's A Walk To Remember is faring better than its predecessors, and was the eighth highest-grossing movie of last weekend (February 8-10). It should also be noted that veteran rapper-actor Will Smith earned an Academy Award nomination this week for best actor in a leading role for his portrayal of Muhammad Ali in the film Ali.
Even though Spears might not be delivering her Academy Award acceptance speech anytime in the near future, no matter how Crossroads does she will continue to keep the confident, positive attitude that has earned her a page-and quite possibly a chapter or two-in the annals of pop-music history. Spears concluded that whatever happens, she's chalking up this movie as a learning experience. "I'll just see how it does and if it is a big flop, I'll know what not to do next time."
