By Tremayne Miller
Tremayne Miller writes for heyuguys.com and is a guest presenter on LifestyleMK, Tuesdays 7pm
Sun 15 Jan
‘To complement this year’s riot grrrl underpinnings, we’re
screening Tamra Davis’s noughties cult classic, Crossroads.’
Q&A
Intro
Davis initially turned working on the film down.
At the time Britney must have been around 19, Davis, however,
did agree to meet her. In fact, she spent the entire day in her company, and
bore witness to her transformation from girl-next-door to the megastar, that
is Britney Spears. It turned out they had an amazing
connection, and Britney was insistent
on the film being made, which Davis came
to agree with, so long as she could manage to snapshot a truer, more real Britney.
Cast
Cast member Taryn Manning (Mimi) began
playing Tiffany “Pennsatucky” Doggett in the Netflix series ‘Orange Is The New Black’ in 2013. Manning is the vocalist in electronic duo Boomkat, and is a co-owner of clothing brand Born
Uniqorn.
The Interviewer comments to Davis
how one can “feel the merge that’s
made between Lucy (Spears) and Britney Spears, the personality.
Screenwriter, Shonda Rhimes was
the one to make this transition possible, and has
since become known for creating,
and being the head writer, executive producer and showrunner of medical drama
series, Grey’s Anatomy.
The director of photography (dop), Eric
Alan Edwards, has worked with Gus Van Sant, and helped to maintain that good
sense of reality, which was in keeping with Davis’s wishes.
*The last frame taken on the beach with
the three girls held a snapshot image of what this film is truly about, female
friendship, emphasising also the fact that the film was put together by three
women, in the capacity of director, writer and producer.
Davis felt herself in a
vulnerable position working with such a megastar, who had also commissioned the
script, intending for it to break her out of the ‘virginal little girl’ persona
she had been categorised in.
But shortly
after the film was made Britney’s
parents split and she was also to break up from boyfriend, Justin Timberlake, only going to prove the toll young fame can
have on an individual, and their loved ones.
The ’I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll’ scene was shot not dissimilarly to a
music video, where Britney chose her
own hair style; although when given direction she was said to act most
professionally.
Davis says of her
‘she is not a classical beauty but carries a charisma.’
Questions
1a) Were you given any freedom of choice
(despite the film being commissioned by Spears)?
I
never felt an ounce of pressure, and I worked closely alongside my writer and
producer.
With
respect to Britney’s acting – I made sure that her acting was authentic.
1b) Can you talk about responses to the
film.
The test screenings by Paramount did well but a blatant
boycott was made towards Britney (from the outset).
2) Was it
difficult to capture the performance we see Britney
make in the bathroom scene?
We built up to it. She also had an Acting Coach with
her.
Interviewer
then discusses the other cast members who were chosen.
Davis: Both myself and Britney were
fans of Sex & The City, (hence),
the reason that Kim Cattrall was chosen to play her mother in the movie.
3) Davis
talks about the filming process.
When
you make a film you have a prep period but the actual shooting of this one was
spread across three months.
c.
Tremyne Miller
Tremayne Miller writes for heyuguys.com and is a guest presenter on LifestyleMK, Tuesdays 7pm
