Those Britney Spears Biopic Rumors? Yeah, Emma Roberts Is Ready to Address Them.

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Emma Roberts knows exactly what should be on your bookshelf. Loyal members of her online book club Belletrist—now in its seventh active year—already know this, but today, the actor/producer/part-time bookfluencer is taking on additional duty: organizing vacay reading lists.

In a truly unique collab, Belletrist has curated a list of reads with the digital travel-booking platform Trainline to give fans lit recs based on their travel destinations. “Me and my best friend/partner Karah [Priess] were going back and forth and I think our original list had 30 books. We landed on 10,” Emma told Cosmopolitan during an exclusive interview. “This just felt like such a unique way to blend my two favorite things: traveling and reading.”

A Moveable Feast, by Ernest Hemingway

“Such a classic, Paris in the ’20s. There’s just something so summery and romantic and nostalgic and timeless about this book. Obviously, we had to put this on there, but it was a tie between A Movable Feast and The Sun Also Rises—we had to have a standoff between those two.”

The Midnight Library, by Matt Haig

“I actually just read this and fell in love with it. It’s set in the UK, but it’s a time travel book. It’s one of those books that you finish and it’s hard to start another book right away because your mind is just reeling.”

The Talented Mr. Ripley, by Patricia Highsmith

“I love a thriller. It’s set in Italy, so maybe also watch the movie for some fashion inspo.”

But books aren’t the only thing on Emma’s mind as summer winds down. While chatting with Cosmo, the actor spilled on those Britney Spears biopic casting rumors, returning to her 2007 Nancy Drew character, and the real deal behind the scenes of Tell Me Lies season 2 (she’s an EP!), and her *very* major recent shout-out from the one and only Victoria Beckham. Read on for it all.

To me, the cool thing about online book clubs is a lot of their participants end up being passively anonymous. Have you ever been surprised by a celebrity member or general fan of Belletrist?

That’s such a great question. For me, I’m always so blown away when people come up to me and they’re like, “Oh my god, I love your book club,” instead of mentioning a movie or a show I’ve been in. That always gives me joy because I put my heart into the book club. All the recommendations are books me and Karah really love.

We have so many great people supporting Belletrist. My good friends Ashley Benson and Nicky Hilton always support the book club, which I really appreciate. I mean, the surprise shout-out wasn’t for my book club but for me—from Victoria Beckham! She knew who I was on Instagram and that was huge. Someone asked her, “Who’s someone that follows you?” She said my name, and I thought it was a glitch.

So she’s super excited about your follow?

I mean, I’m her biggest fan—I still have my Posh Spice Barbie doll on my doll shelf. So it’s just so iconic. The Spice Girls are so visceral for me that I still remember the Spice Girl Chupa Chups lollipops.

I’m going to look those up right after this call.

They were amazing. They tasted good and they came with stickers.

You’ve got to get that shout-out tatted or something.

What more could you want as a child in the early 2000s than stickers and lollipops from the Spice Girls?

On the fanning out front, I was a huge fan of the Nancy Drew movie you did back in the day. It actually introduced me to the book series. Did that experience instill an early passion for bringing literary stories to the screen like you do at Belletrist Productions?

I loved the Nancy Drew books growing up. I remember buying Nancy Drew and the Secret of the Old Clock at a flea market with my mom when I was a kid, and I had such a vision of Nancy Drew.

When I auditioned for it, they were like, “Look, you’re probably not going to get the part, you’re a little on the younger side, and da da da.” I remember going to the Gap and buying an Argyle sweater and a headband—this whole outfit. I was like, “This is who Nancy Drew is—I know who she is.”

I ended up getting the part, and it was definitely something that drove my literary sense in movies and TV shows that I would later do. I remember being like, “Wait, you can read a book and turn it into a movie—how do you do that?” That was kind of a mind-blowing moment for me at 14 turning 15. I always joke that I want to do grown-up Nancy Drew. Where is she now? Like maybe she’s a little bit fallen off the tracks and needs to be set back.

She peaked early. As such a book fan, which book tropes suck you in every time and which are you totally over?

If time travel is a trope, anything with time travel. Even Karah’s like, “Oh god, don’t send another time travel book, she’s going to make us pick it.” I’m such a sucker for time travel that it’s embarrassing at this point among my friend group. For the tropes I’m over, I would say friends-to-lovers is a little tired for me. I’m kind of over that or marriage drama.

As a noted fan of book-to-movie adaptations, which recent ones have you seen that felt particularly well-handled?

This is so old, but the one that never gets old that I just rewatched the other day is The Notebook. Both the book and the movie are 10 out of 10.

I’m also really excited for you guys to see Tell Me Lies season 2. Season 1 was based on the book Tell Me Lies by Carola Lovering, and we just fell so in love with that book. That started out with Karah, my book club partner, calling me and being like, “Stop everything you’re doing, you need to read Tell Me Lies.” It’s cool to see where we’re at now when it all started with a phone call. Now we veer away from the book in a really fun and exciting way that I’m excited for people to see.

Speaking of season 2, as an executive producer, do you get an outline of the entire season ahead of production?

There is a method to the madness, but it’s still just as exciting. Even though I’m a part of it every step of the way, when the show drops—and especially a show like this where I feel like the audience is so online—it’s super exciting. It feels like you’re seeing it and hearing it all for the first time again.

Without spoiling anything obviously, what was your initial reaction to season 2 as a whole?

Jaw dropped. The season gets crazy and we have new storylines with old and new cast members. Grace Van Patten is spectacular, and then we have some new cast members like the amazing Tom Ellis, who comes in and plays a very important role. I love everybody involved so I can’t wait for everyone to see it.

Speaking of book-to-screen adaptations, there was a huge headline about how Britney Spears’s assistant was pitching you to play her in the upcoming biopic. Did that news make it to your desk? How do you feel about it?

I was like, I love her assistant. I mean, it’s my true dream to play Britney Spears. It’s a rumor, but I hope maybe it’ll come true. I mean, I remember I locked myself in my room and listened to In the Zone and said, “I cannot leave this room until I memorize every word.”

So if they ran the album to you right now, you’d be able to just let muscle memory take over?

Oh yeah! I mean, I sing Britney to my son in the bath all the time. I’m always like, “God, he must think I’m so weird.” That’s some millennial parenting.

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

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