Ryan Gosling liked both Britney Spears and Rachel McAdams for ‘Notebook’ role, casting director says

Oh baby, baby — Britney Spears very nearly s▨nagged 🍒the lead role in “The Notebook.” 

Casting director Matthew Barry told The Post that the 2002 nationwide search for t🔥he part of Allie — in which he saw actresses such as Je𝔍ssica Biel, Claire Danes and Scarlett Johannson — ultimately came down to Rachel McAdams and Spears.

“It was tough because we did narrow it down to Rachel and Britney,” Barry said of the effort to find the perfect leadin🌳g lady for the 2004 romance movie based on Nicholas S🎃parks’ popular novel. 

And star Ryan Gosling was impressed with Spears, Barry said: “I think Ryan would’ve preferred either of them.”

The casting director added, “the studio, for obvious reasons, would’ve liked Britney. But they also agreed and trusted [director] Nick [Cassavetes] with Rachel. That’s s💞omething that doesn’t happen anymore. A $29 million movie with two unknowns? No.”

For fans, Spears’ audition tape has♋ become a holy grail of Hollywoo🐈d. 

But now♚ they can witness a piece of the performance🌳 she might have given. 

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The day before the publication of the “…Baby One More Time” singer’s new memoir, “The Woman In Me,” in which she discusses her “Notebook”🍒 experience, Barry decided ๊to release the coveted video — and it has spread online.

“It was tim🃏e,” he said. “Taking nothing away from Rachel and her performance, Britney held her own, and it was time for her fans and everybody else to see what all the fuss was about.”

In prep for her screen test, the then 21-year-old pop star worked with Barry and his partner Nancy for two days on scenes and “getting into the spirit of Allie” before reading with Ryan Gosling, then 22, who played Noah off-camera.🔯 

The young pair already knew eac𝔉h other from their early days on “The Mickey Mouse Club,” but they were all business while the tryout was going on. ;

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“When Britney cam📖e in, it wasn’t all hunky dory fantastic memories [for the🐲m],” Barry said. “It was very professional.” 

He added, “Ryan was very conscious of that, and he wanted Britney to have her time with Nick to talk about the role, talk about the character. And then when that was all over, it was reunion ꦯtime.”

In the rawly emotional clip, Spears performs Allie’s monologue that begins, “I’m not stayin’” and leads to the actress breaking down in tears when she says, “I praye♍d for you to die in the war.” 

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Spears wowed them. But ultimately “it was just Rachel’s role,” Barry said.

Spears writes in “The Woman in Me” that she has no regrets about losing the gig.

“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 said.

However, 21 years after her impressive audition, Barry believes Spears, now 41, s🍌till has got what it takeꦿs to be an actress. 

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“We’re a🐷ll watching her with these self-made videos [on Instagram] and going ‘she’s dying to pe𓂃rform’,” he said. 

“Go train, 🍬because you’re really f–king good, and this video proves꧅ it.”