Britney Spears auditioned for Allie

Britney Spears very nearly played Allie and had "unbelievable" chemistry with Gosling while auditioning for the part.

Last year, part of the pop star's 2002 audition tape was shared for the first time by the DailyMail, and casting director Matthew Barry recalled them having something special during the chemistry test.

The 'Lucky' singer was extremely emotional relaying the heart-wrenching scene.

Her lines were: "I prayed for you to die in the war, really. Well, not die. I would have felt completely horrible if you would die. But I kinda didn’t want you to be alive anymore because I couldn't bear the thought of you being with somebody else, or of us never seeing each other again. So I gotta go, OK?"

The casting director admitted it was a "very hard toss-up" between Britney and Rachel, but they decided it was a role made for the latter.