Chris Applebaum

Director Chris Applebaum recalls finding Britney Spears sitting on the floor with her legs crossed, her makeup smudged, and in tears during the filming of the Overprotected (The Darkchild Remix) music video. She held up her Motorola flip phone and said, 'I can't believe it. Look at this.' Then she showed a text from Justin Timberlake that read, 'It's over!!!' Spears was hesitant to finish filming, but Applebaum says he encouraged her by saying, 'If you don't have it in you, I totally understand... but if you want to go out there and finish this last set-up in the rain, you can show him that he just made the biggest mistake of his life.' She looked at Applebaum at that moment and said, 'You think so? That's a good idea. I'm going to show him that he let go of the best thing he ever had.'