It’s fair to say that the career paths of Britney Spears and Natalie Portman have been wildly different, yet there was a point when they both held the exact same job in showbiz.
That’s the revelation coming from singer and actress Laura Bell Bundy, known for her roles in “Hart of Dixie,” “How I Met Your Mother” and “Jumanji,” and will be familiar to soap opera fans for her multi-year stint on “Guiding Light.”
‘Ruthless’ Understudies
Bundy’s career began as a child actor, and she was just nine years old when she originated the role of Tina Denmark in Broadway hit “Ruthless! The Musical.”
During a recent appearance on the “Hey Dude… The 90s Called!” podcast, she revealed that both the “Baby One More Time” singer and the “Black Swan” Oscar winner served as her understudies.
“Now, ‘Ruthless!’ is not notable necessarily. I mean, it is in the gay community, the gay theater community. I played a little girl who killed another little girl for a partner show. It was a comedy,” Bundy she said before revealing, “and Britney Spears was my understudy.”
As it turned out, Bundy rarely missed a performance, and when Spears did get the opportunity to perform onstage, she found the process to be repetitive and boring. After eight months of essentially watching Bundy from the wings, Spears decided to exit to pursue pop stardom. At that point, Portman was brought in as her replaement.’
“Then Natalie Portman was my understudy when Britney left,” Bundy recalled. “Now, I felt I was a little closer with Natalie, I think. You know, I knew Britney, but we didn’t play together. Natalie and I played together. We did some great prank calling.”
Natalie Portman’s Perspective
For Portman, replacing Spears as Bundy’s understudy in “Ruthless!” paved the way for a successful film career that continues to thrive.
Following her experience on the Broadway stage, Portman landed her big break onscreen when she was cast in “Léon: The Professional” when she was just 12.
Looking back on her childhood stardom in an interview with Variety, Portman admitted she later came to take a pretty dim view of entering show business at such a young age.
“I would not encourage young people to go into this,” she said.
“I don’t mean ever; I mean as children,” she clarified, admitting she felt as if she was one of the lucky ones to transition from child actor to adult roles with minimal trauma — which many times is not the case.
“I feel it was almost an accident of luck that I was not harmed, also combined with very overprotective, wonderful parents,” she explained.
“You don’t like it when you’re a kid, and you’re grateful for it when you’re an adult,” she continued. “I’ve heard too many bad stories to think that any children should be part of it. Having said that, I know all the conversations that we’ve been having these past few years. It’s made people more aware and careful. But ultimately, I don’t believe that kids should work. I think kids should play and go to school.”
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Broadway Star Reveals Britney Spears and Natalie Portman Were Her Understudies for 1990s Musical