In a different universe timeline, the iconic “Bella, where have you been, loca?” line could have been said to Jamie Lynn Spears.
The 32-year-old actress and singer sat down with Variety recently for a wide-ranging interview pegged to the upcoming release of the Zoey 101 sequel film, aptly titled Zoey 102. The ending of the beloved Nickelodeon show in 2008 came amid news that a then-16-year-old Spears was pregnant. “I think when I wrapped Zoey there were all these plans of things like, ‘Let’s go do movies.’ I was reading scripts for things I was excited about,” she recalled. “But like a lot of young girls, I thought I was in love. And there I am, pregnant at 16. I was so concerned about bringing another human being into this world, but I needed to figure out who I was.”
Among those scripts she was reading was Twilight, which came out in November 2008 starring Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen and Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan. “I did read for Twilight,” Spears admitted. “This was before vampires had really made their mark. Now we all love to watch stories about vampires, but I literally was like, ‘Vampires? Are you kidding me?’ I remember reading it and going, ‘Who is going to watch these vampires?’ Boy, was I wrong.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Jamie Lynn talked about the current state of her relationship with her sister Britney Spears, who revealed in June that she visited her estranged younger sibling on set of Zoey 102. “I have nothing but absolute love for every single one of my family members,” Jamie Lynn said. “If I learned anything from last year, being so open and feeling like I had to defend myself at times, I don’t feel like there’s anything else that I need to say. I just have to leave it where it is because those conversations are meant to be personal. All I can focus on now is my girls, my husband and the work that I’m doing.”
