A cautionary tale as to where you might end up if you snog Madonna in public -- absolutely (her public descent into destructive eccentricity began not long after the pair tangled tongues at the MTV awards).
And yet, surely the greatest achievement of her career has been her ability to keep making interesting music regardless of the horrible goings on in her personal life.
Consider that it is all of 13 years since she vamped it up as a pig-tailed school girl in the 'Baby One More Time' video. In the decade since, her contemporaries and rivals have grown out of pop music (Justin Timberlake), lost their credibility and their fanbase (Christina Aguilera) or simply blinked off the radar. An unstoppable force -- one who can belly dance with an anaconda, at that -- Britney keeps rumbling onwards.
Her most recent album, Femme Fatale, was her seventh number one and her arena tour, which rolls into Dublin tonight, has drawn sell-out audiences from Moscow to Manhattan.
"Spears has continued to walk a fine balance between modernising her sound, pleasing her fans and staying true to her pop icon status," says leading pop blogger Arjan Timmermans.
We definitely wanted to make some passionate, steamy scenes, but we also wanted it to be intensely beautiful. We didn't want to go for raunchy. We wanted it to be sensual and steamy."
In the mini-movie that was filmed in London over two days, Criminal tells the story of Spears kicking her snooty, jerk boyfriend to the curb — literally — and falling for a bad-boy biker who whisks her off to a life of robberies and romance.
Piliero says he wasn't "super stoked" about Trawick being cast, but he kept it to himself. "In the back of my mind, I was like, 'Woo, all right. He's not an actor.' Performances are important to me."
But Piliero put aside his worries. "The cool thing was I didn't have to try that hard with (Trawick). He came with his game face on. He was open to whatever direction I gave him and he delivered it. While this isn't some extravagant role, you believe him."
For the bedroom scene, Spears is in a black lace bra and panties. In the shower scene, the two appear to be nude. Although their hands artfully cover X-rated parts, the camera captures Trawick's buff, tattooed body from several angles. It seems he was happy to show it off, the result of two years of hard work, says Piliero.
"He went on this crazy, very serious diet and workout routine and lost somewhere between 40 and 60 pounds."
Criminal starts like a film, with an opening scene in which Spears is at a party with her no-good boyfriend. She speaks a few lines and they argue. He slaps her, and in steps Trawick to save the day, but not before Britney gets in one harsh kick to the boyfriend's groin. In other words, Spears acts.
"I wanted to give her a few lines so she would have some funk. I like those moments. It's cool." He adds, "I don't want to see her in another Crossroads movie," a reference to Spears' more girlish 2002 film that was not well received by critics.
The Criminal finale is a shoot-out, with the two lovers riddled with bullets as they kiss. "It was a visually captivating, beautifully violent scene," says Piliero.
And then the stars ride off down a London alley on a motorcycle, just for the fairy-tale ending.
So is there a happily-ever-after ending in line for Spears and Trawick? Does Piliero think they'll get married? "Oh, I don't know. They definitely seem in love. They get along really well. They have complementing personalities. I think he's a really cool guy and she's awesome. She deserves a swell dude like that. She seems really happy."
And what's Britney really like? "She's a really sweet girl. She's pretty soft-spoken. She's extremely professional. You gotta commend someone like her. She's had a solo career, going on 14 years now. Very impressive. And you can tell working with her, this isn't her first ride at the rodeo. She's extremely professional and on top of things. Nothing gets super stretched out. It doesn't take a million takes to do things."
All about: Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Lopez,
Lady Gaga, Michele Lee
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