Unsynchronized - Season 1 Episode 5 - Part Bass, Part Boss

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In 2001, Lance Bass was juggling more

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than anyone realized. A film, a

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soundtrack, a collapsing album schedule,

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and a group that needed him in two

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places at once. How did he manage all

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his responsibilities? We'll dive into

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that with today's episode. Part based,

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part boss.

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[Drum 'n bass beatboxing noises]

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One band, 5 voices, and today

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we're looking at another quiet guy in

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the group, a deep voice, frosted tips

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and a long standing commitment to playing

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his part in blending with the group

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harmony, literally and figuratively. I'm

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talking about Lance Bass, "the business

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minded one", the "shy" one, although not

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really shy so much as closeted, 2001 was

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the year when a seed Lance planted in

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private finally had the chance to bear

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fruit publicly. While the group was

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committed to making a new album, Lance

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was also committed to a film project, not

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just producing it, but starring in it

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too. I'm your host, Nicole Raposo.

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Welcome to Unsynchronized, the Deep Dive

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podcast where we discuss how *NSYNC got

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out of sync and eventually called it

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quits. In 2001 was when Lance Bass took

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on 2 new roles, producer and leading man.

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But he was still a team player. And

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over the course of the year, we'll see

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how Lance's bouncing act. Revealed key

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things about him and about the group's

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internal structure. Let's get started.

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*NSYNC kicked off the new year with a

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flurry of events in early January. The

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People's Choice Awards on the 7th, the

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American Music Awards on the 8th, and

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then doing a sit down interview on CNN's

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Larry King Live on the 9th. Lance was

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right there in the mix for all of it. No

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notable moments for him when it comes to

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the award shows or the press coverage.

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But there were two standout moments

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during the group's interview. First, when

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Larry asked about the new album, Lance

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said they were hoping for a June release,

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but they still had to record it. Larry

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asked if the group would be recording

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there in Los Angeles, and Lance replied

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in Orlando. Use the next two months. This

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probably seemed like a minor comment. But

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it's important because it shows the shape

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of what the next two months would look

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like for *NSYNC. It's also important

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because it echoes something that MTV

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reported one month prior. It only

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uncovered this recently, but during a red

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carpet interview for the 2000 Billboard

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Music Awards, Justin was quoted as saying

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that the group would spend January and

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February in the studio working on their

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next album. Joey backed him up on that,

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and the article framed it as a clear

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plan. So when Lance repeats the same

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timeline on Larry King Live when he says

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they'll use the next two months to work

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on the record, that's not him guessing or

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being overly optimistic. And that detail

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becomes important later because it

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affects how much time and energy Lance

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could dedicate to his film project. In a

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couple of months. The second notable

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moment in the interview is when Lance

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responds to a question from Larry King

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about whether their parents watched them

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work. Lance said. They get tired a lot. I

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know, like when we bring our friends and

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family on the road, they're like, how do

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you do this? You know, they spend like 3

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days. And they have to go take a

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week off. Lance wasn't saying he was

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tired, he was saying their schedule was

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so intense that even friends and family

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felt exhausted just watching them. And I

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think that's a sign that fatigue was

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visible from the outside for *NSYNC long

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before anybody started asking about

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taking extended breaks a couple weeks

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later. Lance joined the rest of the

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*NSYNC right alongside Aerosmith, Mary J

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Blige, Nelly and Britney Spears at the

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Super Bowl 35 halftime show. It was the

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biggest spectacle of January, but far

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from the biggest spectacle of the year.

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Lance played a part, as always, but the

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spotlight wasn't centered on him. It

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would be a few days before he started to

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get some shine of his own. On January

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31st, Fox News published an article as

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part of its 411 feature discussing the

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upcoming movie that Lance Bass was going

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to produce and star in. This is the

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earliest article I've found that gives

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major details, like the name of the movie

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which is on the line, who's producing it?

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That was Miramax and Lance's production

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company called A Happy Place. Who was

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starring in the movie? Lance Bass and

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also Joey Fatone. And also when the deal

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was made which was at the Sundance Film

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Festival earlier in the month. So

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straight away in January we see that the

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tone is being set for the rest of Lance's

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year. We have the music 1st and taking up

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most of the attention but off to the

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side. We get a glimpse of a project that

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will be putting lands in the spotlight in

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a different capacity. In early

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February, Entertainment Weekly introduced

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On the Line as the debut project from

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Lance Bass's new production company. The

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article framed the project as a mid

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budget romantic comedy, a $10 million

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shoot in Toronto, Joey Fatone attached as

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the Co star and a tentative production

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start date for June. Casting was still

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under way. The time but the announcement

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positioned Lance not just as an actor,

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but as a young executive launching a

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slate of projects. A Happy Place itself

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had grown out of an earlier collaboration

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with Tom Hanks, Playtone, and Lance's

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partners, including Playtone's, Wendy

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Thorlakson and *NSYNC's manager Johnny

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Wright, were already shaping the

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company's identity around PG-13 music

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driven films, the article even teased a

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second project called 'Shooting from the

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Heart', signaling that A Happy Place

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wasn't a one-off experiment, but the

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beginning of a bigger creative venture.

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Lances quotes in the piece reveal a lot

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about how he saw himself at the time, he

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told Entertainment Weekly. I didn't want

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to star in this film. The more

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interested in producing than acting. That

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comment framed his involvement as a

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business move rather than a career pivot.

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He emphasized that he wasn't a figurehead

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when it came to his company, saying that

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he was always on the phone with the

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studios, always reading scripts, always

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trying to make a deal. Even with *NSYNC's

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recording schedule looming, he insisted

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that he'd stay hands on with the company,

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adding If I had my whole attention

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focused on just *NSYNC, I'd go

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crazy. His comments paint the picture of

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someone who wasn't chasing solo stardom

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but was trying to build something

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sustainable, A production company that

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could create opportunities for other

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musicians and athletes, not just himself.

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But the timeline presented in the

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article. Didn't match the reality of

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Nsync's year. A June shoot would have

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overlapped directly with the group's

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summer tour, which was expected to begin

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in May and run through August. Lance also

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told EW that he'd be busy in the studio

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for the next month and 1/2, which pushed

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the album recording into late March, the

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same window that he likely would have

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needed for pre-production. Even in

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February, it sounds like the group was

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already behind schedule and the album's

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timeline was slipping in ways the public

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couldn't see. The EW piece captured the

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optimism of a newly announced film deal,

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but it also preserved a snapshot of a

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plan that was never feasible. The movie,

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the album, and the tour were all stacked

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on top of each other. Revealing how early

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the year's obligations were already

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colliding and revealing how little room

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Lance actually had to make any of it

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work. Moving on to mid February, there

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was the possible filming of Instincts

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video for their cover of the song 'That's

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the Way Love Goes', which was one of many

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tributes included in the MTV Icon: Janet

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Jackson special. I still don't have a

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confirmed date for the taping, but I

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think I'm a little bit closer. I found

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the director of the piece, his name is

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Billy Rainey and according to his blog,

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the song and the video were completed in

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only one day. March

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opens with one of the earliest public

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confirmations that Lance was in Toronto

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for On the Line. On March 6th, All Pop

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reported that he had appeared at the Juno

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Awards in Hamilton and would be spending

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significant time in Toronto to shoot the

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film. The piece framed this as the start

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of act of production. It's the kind of

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early cycle entertainment reporting that

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establishes a narrative. More than it

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documents a schedule. Lance was in

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Canada, the movie was happening, and he's

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bouncing it with *NSYNC's commitments. But

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when you compare this to the other

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evidence, the timeline becomes less

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straightforward. In Joey's episode, I used

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two pieces of information to guesstimate

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the actual filming window: one piece

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was director Eric Bross' recollection of

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a filming schedule that was roughly

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35 days, and the other piece

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was a late April journal entry

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from Melinda Bell noting that Lance

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had just wrapped up his final

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scene around April 27th, like a

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couple of days before. So working

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backwards from that, I estimated that

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principal photography for On the Line

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likely started around March 22nd or 23rd.

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Eric Bross later described the shoot as

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a 35 day Sprint, with Lance and

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Joey coming and going depending on which

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scenes they were needed for. So what

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Eric recalled adds another layer to

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Lance's March. This wasn't a clean block

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of time carved out for a film

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project. It was a period where he

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was moving between sets and between vocal

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sessions, while also having ongoing

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management responsibilities. Bross also

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recalled that some of the group's album

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recording may have taken place in Toronto

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studios to avoid constant flights back to

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Orlando, FL. That's a detail that

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reinforces just how little true downtime

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existed for Lance. The start of filming

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wasn't a pause from *NSYNC's workload, it

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was the beginning of a stretch. Where

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every obligation overlapped with another.

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So that All Pop article creates a

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wrinkle in the timeline. If their March

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6th report was accurate and Lance was

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already in Toronto filming, then the

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shoot would have been significantly

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longer than the 35 days that Eric

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remembers. It's possible that All Pop

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wasn't reporting. Precisely, and maybe

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filming for them could have really been

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pre-production, rehearsals, fittings, or

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simply Lance being on location. So it's

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difficult to reconcile the exact dates

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for when On the Line was filmed.

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What I can say is that it

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seems Lance was spending meaningful time

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in Toronto. By early March, even

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if principal photography didn't

268
00:10:41,551 --> 00:10:44,386
officially start until later in the

269
00:10:44,386 --> 00:10:46,749
month. This ambiguity is important

270
00:10:46,749 --> 00:10:49,584
because it highlights the broader pattern

271
00:10:49,584 --> 00:10:52,420
of 2001 the public narrative often

272
00:10:52,420 --> 00:10:55,255
read ahead of the actual logistics

273
00:10:55,255 --> 00:10:57,618
announcements, press blurbs, and early

274
00:10:57,618 --> 00:11:00,212
coverage. Typically painted a picture of

275
00:11:00,212 --> 00:11:02,471
momentum, while the behind the scenes

276
00:11:02,471 --> 00:11:04,730
reality was more complicated. Moving on

277
00:11:04,730 --> 00:11:07,365
to March 13th, there's the broadcast of

278
00:11:07,365 --> 00:11:09,1000
the MTV Icon special, including *NSYNC's

279
00:11:09,1000 --> 00:11:12,635
tribute video. The taping of the special

280
00:11:12,635 --> 00:11:15,270
happened 3 days earlier on March 10th,

281
00:11:15,270 --> 00:11:17,905
and the only members of *NSYNC who

282
00:11:17,905 --> 00:11:20,606
were there in person were Chris and

283
00:11:20,606 --> 00:11:23,473
Justin. Then on March 15, MTV News ran a

284
00:11:23,473 --> 00:11:25,703
piece about Meredith Edwards. She was a

285
00:11:25,703 --> 00:11:27,933
country singer and she was the first

286
00:11:27,933 --> 00:11:29,526
artist signed to Freelance Entertainment,

287
00:11:29,526 --> 00:11:31,437
which is the management company that

288
00:11:31,437 --> 00:11:33,667
Lance had launched with his mother and

289
00:11:33,667 --> 00:11:35,579
his sister the previous year Meredith

290
00:11:35,579 --> 00:11:37,809
spoke directly about Lance's role in her

291
00:11:37,809 --> 00:11:40,147
career and described him as someone with

292
00:11:40,147 --> 00:11:41,779
real connections in Nashville, somebody

293
00:11:41,779 --> 00:11:44,064
who knew the right people and was

294
00:11:44,064 --> 00:11:45,696
actively using those relationships to

295
00:11:45,696 --> 00:11:48,308
help her. She emphasized that he wasn't a

296
00:11:48,308 --> 00:11:50,920
passive manager. He was hands-on, he was

297
00:11:50,920 --> 00:11:53,205
involved and he was genuinely invested in

298
00:11:53,205 --> 00:11:55,164
guiding her through the music industry.

299
00:11:55,164 --> 00:11:57,449
Coming from the first artist signed to

300
00:11:57,449 --> 00:11:58,755
Freelance Entertainment, her comments

301
00:11:58,755 --> 00:12:00,451
showed that Lance's management company

302
00:12:00,451 --> 00:12:03,013
wasn't just a side project, it was real

303
00:12:03,013 --> 00:12:05,576
work he was doing in parallel with *NSYNC's

304
00:12:05,576 --> 00:12:08,138
schedule and also the filming of On the

305
00:12:08,138 --> 00:12:10,700
Line. Getting back to Lance and *NSYNC,

306
00:12:10,700 --> 00:12:12,622
The group's movements during late March

307
00:12:12,622 --> 00:12:15,505
are a little hard to pin down. In JC's

308
00:12:15,505 --> 00:12:17,747
episode, I assumed that the three who

309
00:12:17,747 --> 00:12:19,989
weren't at the MTV Icon special were

310
00:12:19,989 --> 00:12:22,893
working on Celebrity. But the All Pop

311
00:12:22,893 --> 00:12:24,927
article throws a wrench in that idea.

312
00:12:24,927 --> 00:12:26,961
Lance could have been stateside, or he

313
00:12:26,961 --> 00:12:28,995
could have been in Canada. All five

314
00:12:28,995 --> 00:12:31,319
members of *NSYNC were in New York City

315
00:12:31,319 --> 00:12:33,354
for Michael Jackson's Rock and Roll Hall

316
00:12:33,354 --> 00:12:35,678
of Fame induction on March 19th, and then

317
00:12:35,678 --> 00:12:38,003
the next day MTV reported that the group

318
00:12:38,003 --> 00:12:40,327
was in the studio with The Neptunes that

319
00:12:40,327 --> 00:12:42,618
week, though it's not clear. How many

320
00:12:42,618 --> 00:12:44,537
members were actually there. Joey's

321
00:12:44,537 --> 00:12:47,224
daughter was born on March 21st, so

322
00:12:47,224 --> 00:12:49,527
he was almost certainly with his

323
00:12:49,527 --> 00:12:51,830
girlfriend Kelly for the birth. Lance,

324
00:12:51,830 --> 00:12:53,750
meanwhile, had already reportedly been

325
00:12:53,750 --> 00:12:56,436
spending time in Toronto for On the

326
00:12:56,436 --> 00:12:58,740
Line and based on the director's

327
00:12:58,740 --> 00:13:01,426
estimated 35 day shoot plus that late

328
00:13:01,426 --> 00:13:03,577
April Journal entry from Melinda,

329
00:13:03,577 --> 00:13:05,699
significant portions of the filming

330
00:13:05,699 --> 00:13:08,668
likely began around March 22nd or 23rd.

331
00:13:08,668 --> 00:13:11,214
What this creates is a compressed,

332
00:13:11,214 --> 00:13:12,911
overlapping stretch of obligations,

333
00:13:12,911 --> 00:13:15,032
public appearances, recording sessions, a

334
00:13:15,032 --> 00:13:18,002
new baby, and the start of a

335
00:13:18,002 --> 00:13:20,548
filming shoot all unfolding within the

336
00:13:20,548 --> 00:13:23,170
same 13 day window, and not

337
00:13:23,170 --> 00:13:26,134
always in a way that lines up

338
00:13:26,134 --> 00:13:28,250
neatly with the public narrative.

339
00:13:28,990 --> 00:13:31,693
By the end of March, it was clear

340
00:13:31,693 --> 00:13:33,721
that the year's plans were already

341
00:13:33,721 --> 00:13:36,086
slipping out of alignment. The group had

342
00:13:36,086 --> 00:13:38,113
spent January preparing for the Super

343
00:13:38,113 --> 00:13:39,802
Bowl, juggling rehearsals and doing

344
00:13:39,802 --> 00:13:41,492
public appearances, in addition to

345
00:13:41,492 --> 00:13:43,181
supposedly locking down studio time.

346
00:13:43,181 --> 00:13:45,546
February was meant to be the second-half

347
00:13:45,546 --> 00:13:47,911
of the window for working on Celebrity,

348
00:13:47,911 --> 00:13:50,490
But somewhere along the way, the two

349
00:13:50,490 --> 00:13:52,887
months they were promised in early

350
00:13:52,887 --> 00:13:55,285
January had turned into needing another

351
00:13:55,285 --> 00:13:57,683
six weeks after early February, which

352
00:13:57,683 --> 00:13:59,681
meant album production was inevitably

353
00:13:59,681 --> 00:14:02,478
going to spill into March. And this

354
00:14:02,478 --> 00:14:05,275
raises a bigger question. Who believed it

355
00:14:05,275 --> 00:14:08,073
was realistic to expect a group of

356
00:14:08,073 --> 00:14:10,071
performers who were not professional

357
00:14:10,071 --> 00:14:12,542
songwriters who deliver a cohesive, radio

358
00:14:12,542 --> 00:14:15,288
ready album in only two months?

359
00:14:15,288 --> 00:14:18,034
*NSYNC was a group of talented vocalists

360
00:14:18,034 --> 00:14:20,780
and performers, but they were not Max

361
00:14:20,780 --> 00:14:23,527
Martin, or Rodney Jerkins, or The Neptunes

362
00:14:23,527 --> 00:14:25,880
or Dallas Austin - all producers who

363
00:14:25,880 --> 00:14:28,234
probably would have struggled to deliver

364
00:14:28,234 --> 00:14:30,980
their best work under the same schedule

365
00:14:31,050 --> 00:14:33,442
that the group was keeping. Yet the

366
00:14:33,442 --> 00:14:35,492
timeline they were working under assumed

367
00:14:35,492 --> 00:14:37,883
exactly that: finish the album by late

368
00:14:37,883 --> 00:14:40,275
February, rehearsed for a stadium tour in

369
00:14:40,275 --> 00:14:43,008
April, hit the road in May, and then

370
00:14:43,008 --> 00:14:45,399
released the new album in June. The

371
00:14:45,399 --> 00:14:47,449
cracks that appeared in March weren't

372
00:14:47,449 --> 00:14:49,499
personal failures. They were the first

373
00:14:49,499 --> 00:14:51,890
signs of a year built on expectations.

374
00:14:51,970 --> 00:14:54,260
That may have never been achievable in

375
00:14:54,260 --> 00:14:56,876
the 1st place, signs of a foundation that

376
00:14:56,876 --> 00:14:59,165
would only grow more unstable as the

377
00:14:59,165 --> 00:15:01,128
spring turned into the summer. April

378
00:15:01,128 --> 00:15:03,417
gives us another split screen moment. On

379
00:15:03,417 --> 00:15:05,706
the 10th, *NSYNC appeared at the

380
00:15:05,706 --> 00:15:07,342
Blockbuster Entertainment Awards... Or at

381
00:15:07,342 --> 00:15:09,958
least most of them did. JC, Justin, and

382
00:15:09,958 --> 00:15:12,857
Chris were on the red carpet and at the

383
00:15:12,857 --> 00:15:14,571
ceremony, while Lance and Joey remained

384
00:15:14,571 --> 00:15:16,284
in Toronto, finishing the final stretch

385
00:15:16,284 --> 00:15:19,140
of On the Line. On the 17th, Lance and Joy

386
00:15:19,140 --> 00:15:21,425
filmed one of the most public scenes from

387
00:15:21,425 --> 00:15:23,710
On the Line at Wrigley Field in Chicago,

388
00:15:23,710 --> 00:15:25,709
leading the crowd in a rousing rendition

389
00:15:25,709 --> 00:15:28,280
of 'Take Me Out to the Ball Game' during

390
00:15:28,280 --> 00:15:30,564
the 7th inning stretch. It was a rare

391
00:15:30,564 --> 00:15:31,992
moment where the film's production

392
00:15:31,992 --> 00:15:33,983
overlapped with a live audience, turning

393
00:15:33,983 --> 00:15:36,218
the baseball tradition into a promotional

394
00:15:36,218 --> 00:15:38,950
spectacle. For Lance, the shoot

395
00:15:38,950 --> 00:15:40,973
underscored how visible the project had

396
00:15:40,973 --> 00:15:42,997
become and how little separation existed

397
00:15:42,997 --> 00:15:45,358
between his film work and the broader

398
00:15:45,358 --> 00:15:47,382
machinery of instincts public life. Even

399
00:15:47,382 --> 00:15:49,743
while he was technically away from the

400
00:15:49,743 --> 00:15:51,767
group, the work never stopped being

401
00:15:51,767 --> 00:15:54,465
public. And then, on April 25th, all 5

402
00:15:54,465 --> 00:15:56,826
members appeared together on TRL's At Your

403
00:15:56,826 --> 00:15:58,899
House Special via satellite, the first time

404
00:15:58,899 --> 00:16:01,336
they have been on camera together as a

405
00:16:01,336 --> 00:16:03,468
full group in weeks. Lance had just

406
00:16:03,468 --> 00:16:05,296
returned from filming and this appearance

407
00:16:05,296 --> 00:16:07,429
effectively marked his re-entry into the

408
00:16:07,429 --> 00:16:09,866
*NSYNC workflow after a month of being on

409
00:16:09,866 --> 00:16:12,830
location. Melinda Bell's April

410
00:16:12,830 --> 00:16:15,049
27th journal entry on the group's

411
00:16:15,049 --> 00:16:17,268
official website confirmed what the TRL

412
00:16:17,268 --> 00:16:19,117
appearance had already signaled: Lance

413
00:16:19,117 --> 00:16:21,705
had wrapped his final scenes and was

414
00:16:21,705 --> 00:16:23,924
officially back. In hindsight, this TRL

415
00:16:23,924 --> 00:16:26,883
episode stands out as one of the last

416
00:16:26,883 --> 00:16:28,362
uncomplicated, mostly fun appearances

417
00:16:28,362 --> 00:16:30,950
before the year starts to get heavier.

418
00:16:31,650 --> 00:16:33,488
May begins with the collision of

419
00:16:33,488 --> 00:16:35,326
deadlines that had been building for

420
00:16:35,326 --> 00:16:37,777
months. Lance turned 22 on May 4th, a

421
00:16:37,777 --> 00:16:39,921
birthday that landed right in the middle

422
00:16:39,921 --> 00:16:41,453
of Pop Odyssey tour rehearsals -

423
00:16:41,453 --> 00:16:43,291
rehearsals that were already under way.

424
00:16:43,291 --> 00:16:45,435
Even though the new album still wasn't

425
00:16:45,435 --> 00:16:47,273
finished. It's a moment that highlights

426
00:16:47,273 --> 00:16:49,417
just how many loose threads were still

427
00:16:49,417 --> 00:16:51,561
dangling from earlier in the year. The

428
00:16:51,561 --> 00:16:53,206
January through February recording plan

429
00:16:53,206 --> 00:16:55,171
had clearly fallen apart. Splitting time

430
00:16:55,171 --> 00:16:57,464
between films and music hadn't made much

431
00:16:57,464 --> 00:16:59,756
difference for Lance, and now the group

432
00:16:59,756 --> 00:17:02,049
was trying to prepare a stadium tour

433
00:17:02,049 --> 00:17:04,014
while still scrambling to complete the

434
00:17:04,014 --> 00:17:06,307
record. On May 9th, MTV News announced

435
00:17:06,307 --> 00:17:08,272
what had become unavoidable: *NSYNC was

436
00:17:08,272 --> 00:17:10,238
officially pushing back both the Pop

437
00:17:10,238 --> 00:17:12,203
Odyssey tour and the celebrity album

438
00:17:12,203 --> 00:17:14,766
release. The statement framed the delay

439
00:17:14,766 --> 00:17:17,267
as a matter of production demands and

440
00:17:17,267 --> 00:17:19,053
staging complexity, but the revised

441
00:17:19,053 --> 00:17:21,196
timeline made something else clear. The

442
00:17:21,196 --> 00:17:23,696
spring and early summer of 2001 had

443
00:17:23,696 --> 00:17:25,482
become unusually chaotic and compressed.

444
00:17:25,482 --> 00:17:27,983
The group was behind schedule, and the

445
00:17:27,983 --> 00:17:30,483
year's plans were already slipping out of

446
00:17:30,483 --> 00:17:32,626
alignment. *NSYNC started filming the

447
00:17:32,626 --> 00:17:35,379
music video for the song 'Pop' on May

448
00:17:35,379 --> 00:17:38,003
13th, as confirmed by the MTV Making the

449
00:17:38,003 --> 00:17:40,299
Video special that aired later in the

450
00:17:40,299 --> 00:17:42,267
month. And just to underscore how compressed their

451
00:17:42,267 --> 00:17:44,236
schedule had become, the single was

452
00:17:44,236 --> 00:17:46,532
officially serviced to radio on May 14th,

453
00:17:46,532 --> 00:17:48,828
just one day after filming began. There

454
00:17:48,828 --> 00:17:50,468
aren't any standout Lance specific

455
00:17:50,468 --> 00:17:52,764
moments in the special, but the timing

456
00:17:52,764 --> 00:17:54,860
alone says. Everything about how tight

457
00:17:54,860 --> 00:17:57,240
and chaotic the group's spring had become.

458
00:17:57,240 --> 00:17:59,960
On May 17th, in an MSN web chat,

459
00:17:59,960 --> 00:18:02,000
Melinda Bell was asked whether the

460
00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:04,040
members of *NSYNC had solo contract

461
00:18:04,040 --> 00:18:06,420
signed. This came after months of rumors;

462
00:18:06,420 --> 00:18:08,800
Chris had already addressed them back in

463
00:18:08,800 --> 00:18:11,180
February, and now here she was addressing

464
00:18:11,180 --> 00:18:14,158
them in May. She said "no". And added

465
00:18:14,158 --> 00:18:16,250
that "they all work on their own

466
00:18:16,250 --> 00:18:18,342
individual things when they can find the

467
00:18:18,342 --> 00:18:20,732
time". For Lance, that meant On the Line,

468
00:18:20,732 --> 00:18:22,824
the film he produced and had just

469
00:18:22,824 --> 00:18:24,318
finished shooting weeks earlier. From

470
00:18:24,318 --> 00:18:26,410
there, the month moved quickly. On May

471
00:18:26,410 --> 00:18:27,904
18th, Entertainment Weekly published a

472
00:18:27,904 --> 00:18:29,996
Q&A with Lance that captured the strain

473
00:18:29,996 --> 00:18:32,088
of the moment. He talked about the

474
00:18:32,088 --> 00:18:34,497
group's one album per year rhythm. About

475
00:18:34,497 --> 00:18:36,992
finishing On the Line, about juggling

476
00:18:36,992 --> 00:18:39,130
*NSYNC duties on weekends and filming

477
00:18:39,130 --> 00:18:41,625
during the week, he mentioned taking the

478
00:18:41,625 --> 00:18:44,120
lead role unexpectedly and doing it for

479
00:18:44,120 --> 00:18:46,615
the fans. It's an interview that reads

480
00:18:46,615 --> 00:18:48,754
differently in hindsight. The tone is

481
00:18:48,754 --> 00:18:51,249
upbeat, but the exhaustion is right there

482
00:18:51,249 --> 00:18:54,101
under the surface. And then on May 23rd,

483
00:18:54,181 --> 00:18:56,318
The Pop Odyssey tour finally kicked off.

484
00:18:56,318 --> 00:18:59,066
It was a milestone for Lance and for the

485
00:18:59,066 --> 00:19:01,203
group, but it also marked the beginning

486
00:19:01,203 --> 00:19:03,646
of a summer that was built on unfinished

487
00:19:03,646 --> 00:19:05,478
business and on expectations that had

488
00:19:05,478 --> 00:19:07,310
already been proven as nearly impossible

489
00:19:07,310 --> 00:19:10,285
to meet. By June, Lance's year

490
00:19:10,285 --> 00:19:12,690
had shifted entirely back into a group

491
00:19:12,690 --> 00:19:14,751
centered rhythm. His spring had been

492
00:19:14,751 --> 00:19:16,469
defined by competing obligations a

493
00:19:16,469 --> 00:19:18,874
filming on the line in Toronto and

494
00:19:18,874 --> 00:19:21,279
Chicago while trying to stay tethered to

495
00:19:21,279 --> 00:19:23,684
In Sync schedule. But once he wrapped

496
00:19:23,684 --> 00:19:25,746
production in late April, his world

497
00:19:25,746 --> 00:19:27,807
narrowed back to only the group's

498
00:19:27,807 --> 00:19:30,550
demands. May was dominated by tour

499
00:19:30,550 --> 00:19:32,288
rehearsals, public messaging, and the

500
00:19:32,288 --> 00:19:34,723
pressure of an unfinished album. June was

501
00:19:34,723 --> 00:19:37,158
dominated by the Pop Odyssey tour itself.

502
00:19:37,158 --> 00:19:39,244
I couldn't find any notable solo

503
00:19:39,244 --> 00:19:41,331
interviews or individual press for Lance

504
00:19:41,331 --> 00:19:43,766
in June, and that's most likely because

505
00:19:43,766 --> 00:19:46,200
the group schedule didn't leave room for

506
00:19:46,200 --> 00:19:48,635
anything else. The biggest thing he had

507
00:19:48,635 --> 00:19:51,423
going on. With the tour, along with the

508
00:19:51,423 --> 00:19:53,445
occasional group appearance, like when

509
00:19:53,445 --> 00:19:56,141
*NSYNC stopped by BET's 106 & Park. This

510
00:19:56,141 --> 00:19:58,837
segment of the year ends with Lance fully

511
00:19:58,837 --> 00:20:00,859
reabsorbed into the *NSYNC workflow, with

512
00:20:00,859 --> 00:20:03,218
the filming behind him and the tour

513
00:20:03,218 --> 00:20:05,914
under way, and with the rest of the

514
00:20:05,914 --> 00:20:07,599
year already tightening around the

515
00:20:07,599 --> 00:20:08,947
group's increasingly compressed timeline.

516
00:20:08,947 --> 00:20:11,531
Even so, June did include one quiet

517
00:20:11,531 --> 00:20:13,361
milestone connected to Lance's work

518
00:20:13,361 --> 00:20:15,924
outside the group. On June 5th, Meredith

519
00:20:15,924 --> 00:20:18,120
Edwards released her debut album 'Reach',

520
00:20:18,120 --> 00:20:21,049
the first major project to come out of

521
00:20:21,049 --> 00:20:22,879
Freelance Entertainment, which as I

522
00:20:22,879 --> 00:20:24,709
mentioned, was the management company

523
00:20:24,709 --> 00:20:27,638
Lance ran with his mother and his sister

524
00:20:27,638 --> 00:20:29,834
earlier in the year. Meredith had

525
00:20:29,834 --> 00:20:32,439
described. As a hands-on manager with

526
00:20:32,439 --> 00:20:34,378
real connections in Nashville and someone

527
00:20:34,378 --> 00:20:36,640
who's actively helping her to steer her

528
00:20:36,640 --> 00:20:38,578
career. Even though the album's release

529
00:20:38,578 --> 00:20:40,194
wasn't a personal creative achievement

530
00:20:40,194 --> 00:20:42,779
for Lance, it was some clear evidence of

531
00:20:42,779 --> 00:20:45,041
additional behind the scenes work he had

532
00:20:45,041 --> 00:20:47,626
been doing earlier in 2001. Even when it

533
00:20:47,626 --> 00:20:49,564
seemed that his schedule contained room

534
00:20:49,564 --> 00:20:52,017
for little else, he still found the time

535
00:20:52,017 --> 00:20:54,044
and energy to support Meredith in finding

536
00:20:54,044 --> 00:20:55,781
her own way into the spotlight.

537
00:20:57,641 --> 00:20:59,820
July brought another shift in tone.

538
00:20:59,820 --> 00:21:02,312
The Pop Odyssey tour was in full swing,

539
00:21:02,312 --> 00:21:04,491
the celebrity album was finally going to

540
00:21:04,491 --> 00:21:06,671
be released, and the press cycle was

541
00:21:06,671 --> 00:21:09,163
starting to intensify a bit. One of the

542
00:21:09,163 --> 00:21:11,342
biggest media moments in the month was

543
00:21:11,342 --> 00:21:13,522
the long form Rolling Stone profile "NSYNC

544
00:21:13,522 --> 00:21:16,014
: True Tales of Pop Life", which was

545
00:21:16,014 --> 00:21:18,592
published in the August issue, but that

546
00:21:18,592 --> 00:21:21,207
issue was sent to subscribers and

547
00:21:21,207 --> 00:21:23,822
available on news stands in July.

548
00:21:23,822 --> 00:21:26,001
Each member was technically represented

549
00:21:26,001 --> 00:21:28,616
in the piece, but the depth

550
00:21:28,616 --> 00:21:31,231
of those portrayals vary sharply. Joey

551
00:21:31,231 --> 00:21:33,846
was framed as the flirty good-natured

552
00:21:33,846 --> 00:21:36,461
1. Chris was the wacky, wisecracking

553
00:21:36,461 --> 00:21:39,154
underdog. JC was the quiet. God

554
00:21:39,154 --> 00:21:41,904
almost out-of-place boy in the boy

555
00:21:41,904 --> 00:21:44,311
band because he liked wine and painting.

556
00:21:45,841 --> 00:21:48,211
Lance's portrayal leaned heavily on his

557
00:21:48,211 --> 00:21:50,187
established public persona. Calm, polite,

558
00:21:50,187 --> 00:21:52,557
steady the group's reassuring voice, with

559
00:21:52,557 --> 00:21:54,533
the writer selecting quotes that

560
00:21:54,533 --> 00:21:56,903
reinforce him as an emotional validator

561
00:21:56,903 --> 00:21:59,274
rather than exploring Lance with more

562
00:21:59,274 --> 00:22:01,644
depth, Lance reflected on the group's

563
00:22:01,644 --> 00:22:04,015
rise, saying "We've always been the

564
00:22:04,015 --> 00:22:05,990
redheaded stepchild. To finally feel

565
00:22:05,990 --> 00:22:08,361
we're on top is very emotional".

566
00:22:09,461 --> 00:22:11,414
He emphasized the group's creative power

567
00:22:11,414 --> 00:22:13,368
over the celebrity album, saying "we

568
00:22:13,368 --> 00:22:15,973
totally took control of this and that 80%

569
00:22:15,973 --> 00:22:18,904
of the album was written by the guys". The

570
00:22:18,904 --> 00:22:21,184
profile also captured a rare glimpse of

571
00:22:21,184 --> 00:22:23,942
his protective side. "I hate when people

572
00:22:23,942 --> 00:22:25,643
take advantage of us. That's when I

573
00:22:25,643 --> 00:22:27,101
really go off the deep end".

574
00:22:28,501 --> 00:22:30,726
But even with these moments, the writer

575
00:22:30,726 --> 00:22:32,634
still filtered Lance through a narrow

576
00:22:32,634 --> 00:22:35,178
lens, at one point describing him as "so

577
00:22:35,178 --> 00:22:37,722
pretty you'd think he was a girl". That's

578
00:22:37,722 --> 00:22:40,265
a line that reveals far more about the

579
00:22:40,265 --> 00:22:41,855
writer's perspective than about Lance

580
00:22:41,855 --> 00:22:43,763
himself. Around the same time, VIBE

581
00:22:43,763 --> 00:22:45,671
magazine released its August issue early,

582
00:22:45,671 --> 00:22:47,897
featuring a piece by Mimi Valdes that

583
00:22:47,897 --> 00:22:50,391
attempted to position *NSYNC within a

584
00:22:50,391 --> 00:22:52,928
racialized framework of pop and R&B. With

585
00:22:52,928 --> 00:22:55,103
the piece, Valdes positioned herself as

586
00:22:55,103 --> 00:22:57,278
someone who was giving the readers

587
00:22:57,278 --> 00:22:59,816
permission to admit that *NSYNC were

588
00:22:59,816 --> 00:23:01,991
dope white boys who respected black

589
00:23:01,991 --> 00:23:03,803
musical traditions and outperformed many

590
00:23:03,803 --> 00:23:05,978
of their R&B contemporaries through their

591
00:23:05,978 --> 00:23:07,791
sheer showmanship. Lance was quoted

592
00:23:07,791 --> 00:23:10,014
directly in this article. Saying "we're

593
00:23:10,014 --> 00:23:12,748
white boys and we know it, especially me

594
00:23:12,748 --> 00:23:15,481
because I can't dance as good as the

595
00:23:15,481 --> 00:23:17,873
other guys". It's a moment that shows

596
00:23:17,873 --> 00:23:19,923
Lance is self-awareness, but it also

597
00:23:19,923 --> 00:23:22,315
shows how the group was being discussed

598
00:23:22,315 --> 00:23:24,024
in increasingly complex cultural terms.

599
00:23:24,024 --> 00:23:26,415
On July 24th, the Celebrity album was

600
00:23:26,415 --> 00:23:29,149
released in the US. It sold almost 1.9

601
00:23:29,149 --> 00:23:31,442
million copies in its first week, which

602
00:23:31,442 --> 00:23:33,949
is still a huge achievement even if the

603
00:23:33,949 --> 00:23:35,830
media downplayed it because *NSYNC

604
00:23:35,830 --> 00:23:38,025
didn't beat their own record. The release

605
00:23:38,025 --> 00:23:39,906
of Celebrity simply folded into the

606
00:23:39,906 --> 00:23:41,787
larger promotional rhythm of the summer,

607
00:23:41,787 --> 00:23:43,981
where the media coverage played a major

608
00:23:43,981 --> 00:23:46,489
role in shaping how the group was being

609
00:23:46,489 --> 00:23:48,683
perceived. Together. The 2 media pieces I

610
00:23:48,683 --> 00:23:50,636
mentioned, the ones from Rolling Stone

611
00:23:50,636 --> 00:23:53,161
and Vibe, captured some of the tension of

612
00:23:53,161 --> 00:23:55,370
July 2001. The group was still promoting

613
00:23:55,370 --> 00:23:57,894
the tour and the new album, still doing

614
00:23:57,894 --> 00:24:00,103
the interviews they were obligated to do.

615
00:24:00,103 --> 00:24:02,312
And for Lance, July becomes another month

616
00:24:02,312 --> 00:24:04,836
where his public role was defined less by

617
00:24:04,836 --> 00:24:07,045
what he's doing individually and more by

618
00:24:07,045 --> 00:24:09,254
how he was positioned within the group.

619
00:24:09,254 --> 00:24:11,791
The polite one. The steady one the

620
00:24:11,791 --> 00:24:14,653
emotional anchor in a year that was only

621
00:24:14,653 --> 00:24:16,799
getting heavier. August gives us two

622
00:24:16,799 --> 00:24:18,945
small but meaningful Lance moments that

623
00:24:18,945 --> 00:24:21,091
bridge the gap between the celebrity

624
00:24:21,091 --> 00:24:23,952
summer cycle and the upcoming on the line

625
00:24:23,952 --> 00:24:26,099
promotional push. On August 14th, MTV

626
00:24:26,099 --> 00:24:28,245
News published a piece about the

627
00:24:28,245 --> 00:24:30,033
forthcoming Crossover special from The

628
00:24:30,033 --> 00:24:31,831
Independent Film Channels network. And

629
00:24:31,831 --> 00:24:33,544
this Crossover special featured behind

630
00:24:33,544 --> 00:24:36,284
the scene footage from On the Line and

631
00:24:36,284 --> 00:24:38,682
framed Lance's move into film as a

632
00:24:38,682 --> 00:24:40,737
legitimate creative step rather than just

633
00:24:40,737 --> 00:24:42,792
a novelty side project. The coverage

634
00:24:42,792 --> 00:24:44,505
emphasized the production process, the

635
00:24:44,505 --> 00:24:46,903
interviews, and the way Lance and Joey

636
00:24:46,903 --> 00:24:48,615
were navigating their transition into

637
00:24:48,615 --> 00:24:50,671
acting, reinforcing the idea that Lance.

638
00:24:50,741 --> 00:24:52,323
To actively building a production

639
00:24:52,323 --> 00:24:54,222
identity in parallel with the group's

640
00:24:54,222 --> 00:24:56,438
music career. And then on August 20th,

641
00:24:56,438 --> 00:24:58,653
*NSYNC performed on the Today Show as

642
00:24:58,653 --> 00:25:00,869
part of their Summer Concert Series. It's

643
00:25:00,869 --> 00:25:03,084
one of the last non-tour performances

644
00:25:03,084 --> 00:25:04,984
before the fall schedule splinters again,

645
00:25:04,984 --> 00:25:07,516
and it marks a moment when Lance's film

646
00:25:07,516 --> 00:25:09,415
career and the group's album narrative

647
00:25:09,415 --> 00:25:11,136
briefly run parallel before diverging

648
00:25:11,136 --> 00:25:13,061
again in September and October.

649
00:25:13,891 --> 00:25:15,900
September opened with a major milestone

650
00:25:15,900 --> 00:25:17,910
*NSYNC's final Pop Odyssey Tour

651
00:25:17,910 --> 00:25:20,254
performance on the first. This was the

652
00:25:20,254 --> 00:25:22,933
end of their last stadium tour and the

653
00:25:22,933 --> 00:25:24,943
most physically demanding stretch of the

654
00:25:24,943 --> 00:25:27,287
year. For Lance, it marked the transition

655
00:25:27,287 --> 00:25:29,632
from the summer grind into the On the Line

656
00:25:29,632 --> 00:25:31,641
promotional window, and it's the moment

657
00:25:31,641 --> 00:25:33,651
when the group's public schedule finally

658
00:25:33,651 --> 00:25:36,076
slows down. A few days later, on

659
00:25:36,076 --> 00:25:38,044
September 6th, the group appeared at the

660
00:25:38,044 --> 00:25:40,011
MTV Video Music Awards and walked away

661
00:25:40,011 --> 00:25:42,260
with four Moonmen for the night. They

662
00:25:42,260 --> 00:25:44,789
were just coming off of the peak of their

663
00:25:44,789 --> 00:25:46,476
Celebrity era visibility, and this was

664
00:25:46,476 --> 00:25:48,443
one of the last major public events

665
00:25:48,443 --> 00:25:50,411
before the industry shut down after 9/11.

666
00:25:51,611 --> 00:25:54,496
In the early part of the month, Lance

667
00:25:54,496 --> 00:25:56,661
also participated in the recording of

668
00:25:56,661 --> 00:25:59,186
'What's Going On', which was a charity

669
00:25:59,186 --> 00:26:01,350
single, and also participated in the

670
00:26:01,350 --> 00:26:03,154
Michael Jackson 30th Anniversary special,

671
00:26:03,154 --> 00:26:05,679
though the exact dates for these two

672
00:26:05,679 --> 00:26:07,843
events vary across sources. On September

673
00:26:07,843 --> 00:26:10,729
10th, MTV News reported on the On the

674
00:26:10,729 --> 00:26:11,811
Line soundtrack, highlighting

675
00:26:11,911 --> 00:26:13,813
contributions from Britney Spears, Mandy

676
00:26:13,813 --> 00:26:16,095
Moore, Al Green and *NSYNC, and

677
00:26:16,095 --> 00:26:18,377
positioning the soundtrack as a major

678
00:26:18,377 --> 00:26:20,659
commercial asset ahead of the film's

679
00:26:20,659 --> 00:26:22,561
release. After the domestic terror

680
00:26:22,561 --> 00:26:24,463
attacks on September 11th, the

681
00:26:24,463 --> 00:26:26,365
entertainment industry undertook a wave

682
00:26:26,365 --> 00:26:29,027
of cancellations as part of the larger

683
00:26:29,027 --> 00:26:31,310
national pause as the industry cautiously

684
00:26:31,310 --> 00:26:33,989
resumed activity later. In the month,

685
00:26:33,989 --> 00:26:35,825
*NSYNC's multimedia presence continued. The

686
00:26:35,825 --> 00:26:38,028
*NSYNC Hotline fantasy phone CD-ROM game

687
00:26:38,028 --> 00:26:40,598
was released on September 17th, and was

688
00:26:40,598 --> 00:26:43,169
one of the many branded products that

689
00:26:43,169 --> 00:26:45,739
kept the group visible even during a

690
00:26:45,739 --> 00:26:47,942
national pause. A week later, on

691
00:26:47,942 --> 00:26:50,145
September 24th, IFC aired the Crossover

692
00:26:50,145 --> 00:26:52,892
special that I referenced earlier. So

693
00:26:52,892 --> 00:26:54,997
behind the scenes documentary about On

694
00:26:54,997 --> 00:26:57,453
the Line that further positioned Lance as

695
00:26:57,453 --> 00:27:00,260
both an actor and a producer heading into

696
00:27:00,260 --> 00:27:02,365
the film's promotional cycle. October was

697
00:27:02,365 --> 00:27:04,471
the most concentrated month of Lance

698
00:27:04,471 --> 00:27:07,278
visibility in all of 2001. On the 6th,

699
00:27:07,278 --> 00:27:09,734
Lance and Emmanuel Chriqui sat for a

700
00:27:09,734 --> 00:27:12,190
press junket that probably gives us the

701
00:27:12,190 --> 00:27:14,489
biggest window into his year. He

702
00:27:14,489 --> 00:27:16,366
articulated the creative balance he'd

703
00:27:16,366 --> 00:27:18,620
been trying to maintain since basically

704
00:27:18,620 --> 00:27:21,249
January. Acting wasn't a whim or a

705
00:27:21,249 --> 00:27:23,126
management-engineered experiment for him,

706
00:27:23,126 --> 00:27:25,755
it was something he'd wanted long before

707
00:27:25,755 --> 00:27:28,384
*NSYNC existed, as he put it.

708
00:27:28,384 --> 00:27:31,013
"I've always wanted to be an actor

709
00:27:31,013 --> 00:27:33,811
I had a passion for acting before I

710
00:27:33,811 --> 00:27:36,077
did music". But he was equally clear that

711
00:27:36,077 --> 00:27:38,344
music remained the center of his life at

712
00:27:38,344 --> 00:27:40,894
that point. "When I'm on stage, I love it

713
00:27:40,894 --> 00:27:43,444
and it's my life. Music is more of my

714
00:27:43,444 --> 00:27:45,427
life than acting is. It's my first

715
00:27:45,427 --> 00:27:48,339
priority". I think that

716
00:27:48,339 --> 00:27:51,251
duality, a real desire to act, paired

717
00:27:51,251 --> 00:27:54,163
with genuine loyalty to a group, is

718
00:27:54,163 --> 00:27:57,075
the tension that defined his entire year.

719
00:27:57,075 --> 00:27:59,987
But for the duality to work, he

720
00:27:59,987 --> 00:28:02,899
had to be mindful of logistics too.

721
00:28:02,899 --> 00:28:05,811
Filming On the Line wasn't something he

722
00:28:05,811 --> 00:28:08,757
did instead of *NSYNC. There was

723
00:28:08,757 --> 00:28:10,531
something he'd fit into the only downtime

724
00:28:10,531 --> 00:28:13,422
the group had. Lance specifically said in

725
00:28:13,422 --> 00:28:15,883
the press junket "I did the movie during

726
00:28:15,883 --> 00:28:18,037
our breaks". He described waking up early

727
00:28:18,037 --> 00:28:20,498
and staying up late when it came to

728
00:28:20,498 --> 00:28:22,960
working on the film, but also said that

729
00:28:22,960 --> 00:28:25,684
he genuinely enjoyed it. The

730
00:28:25,684 --> 00:28:27,947
press junket also revealed how the film

731
00:28:27,947 --> 00:28:30,210
itself came together. On the Line started

732
00:28:30,210 --> 00:28:33,120
as an R-rated script based on a short

733
00:28:33,120 --> 00:28:36,029
film called 'On the L' and A Happy Place

734
00:28:36,029 --> 00:28:37,645
intentionally softened it to something

735
00:28:37,645 --> 00:28:40,232
that would be PG because they wanted it

736
00:28:40,232 --> 00:28:42,818
to be a movie for everybody. Lance wasn't

737
00:28:42,818 --> 00:28:45,081
originally attached as the star, he took

738
00:28:45,081 --> 00:28:47,303
the role only. Because he happened to

739
00:28:47,303 --> 00:28:49,669
have time off. He and Joey had been

740
00:28:49,669 --> 00:28:51,738
talking about doing a movie together for

741
00:28:51,738 --> 00:28:53,512
six years, long before the project

742
00:28:53,512 --> 00:28:55,582
existed. But that's how Joey ended up

743
00:28:55,582 --> 00:28:57,947
being part of the cast. And while the

744
00:28:57,947 --> 00:28:59,721
rest of Instincts supported the film,

745
00:28:59,721 --> 00:29:01,495
Lance was deliberate about keeping the

746
00:29:01,495 --> 00:29:03,564
film from becoming a group vehicle. He

747
00:29:03,564 --> 00:29:05,634
even acknowledged that JC was supposed to

748
00:29:05,634 --> 00:29:08,195
film a cameo as a bartender, but that

749
00:29:08,195 --> 00:29:10,426
scene was ultimately cut. He said, "I

750
00:29:10,426 --> 00:29:12,976
didn't want anyone else in this movie. It

751
00:29:12,976 --> 00:29:15,526
would confuse people and it would make it

752
00:29:15,526 --> 00:29:17,758
look cheesy". The only cameo moments that

753
00:29:17,758 --> 00:29:19,989
made it came with the improvised scene

754
00:29:19,989 --> 00:29:22,858
for the end credits. And it's a piece of

755
00:29:22,858 --> 00:29:25,408
humor that felt true to *NSYNC, but

756
00:29:25,408 --> 00:29:27,738
still managed not to over shadow the film

756
00:29:27,738 --> 00:29:30,169
itself. The final part of the press

758
00:29:30,169 --> 00:29:32,252
junket, captured the emotional reality of

759
00:29:32,252 --> 00:29:35,030
the moment for Lance. When he was asked

760
00:29:35,030 --> 00:29:37,461
about the attacks, he didn't give a

761
00:29:37,461 --> 00:29:39,544
rehearsed answer. "Yeah, I've lost people",

762
00:29:39,544 --> 00:29:42,322
he said. And then he talked about how

763
00:29:42,322 --> 00:29:44,753
the world suddenly felt closer. He framed

764
00:29:44,753 --> 00:29:46,836
the film's timing through that lens,

765
00:29:46,836 --> 00:29:48,629
saying that entertainers had a

766
00:29:48,629 --> 00:29:50,342
responsibility to shine a little

767
00:29:50,342 --> 00:29:52,741
happiness and that he loved the movie

768
00:29:52,741 --> 00:29:55,482
coming out when it did because it gave

769
00:29:55,482 --> 00:29:58,223
people an hour and a half to escape.

770
00:29:58,223 --> 00:30:00,279
Emmanuelle added that the industry itself

771
00:30:00,279 --> 00:30:02,335
was slowing down and shifting towards

772
00:30:02,335 --> 00:30:04,391
gentler, more human stories, a sentiment

773
00:30:04,391 --> 00:30:06,447
that echoed across Hollywood that fall.

774
00:30:06,447 --> 00:30:09,037
Altogether, I think this junket paints a

775
00:30:09,037 --> 00:30:11,371
very clear picture of Lance in October

776
00:30:11,371 --> 00:30:14,037
2001, definitely more so than any of the

777
00:30:14,037 --> 00:30:16,037
other promotional clips or profiles that

778
00:30:16,037 --> 00:30:18,704
may have come out that year. He wasn't

779
00:30:18,704 --> 00:30:21,037
drifting from the group and he wasn't

780
00:30:21,037 --> 00:30:23,371
chasing a vanity project. He was trying

781
00:30:23,371 --> 00:30:25,371
to honor a long standing creative

782
00:30:25,371 --> 00:30:27,037
ambition without disrupting the machine

783
00:30:27,037 --> 00:30:29,371
that he was still fully committed to.

784
00:30:29,831 --> 00:30:32,671
On October 9th, he and Joey sat down on

785
00:30:32,671 --> 00:30:34,879
The Rosie O'Donnell Show to promote On

786
00:30:34,879 --> 00:30:37,088
the Line. The interview was light and

787
00:30:37,088 --> 00:30:38,981
friendly and touching on everything from

788
00:30:38,981 --> 00:30:40,874
the filming schedule to Lance's early

789
00:30:40,874 --> 00:30:43,398
interest in acting and even a little bit

790
00:30:43,398 --> 00:30:45,607
about Joey's baby girl. But the most

791
00:30:45,607 --> 00:30:47,500
revealing moment came when Rosie asked

792
00:30:47,500 --> 00:30:49,709
how the group decided who sang which

793
00:30:49,709 --> 00:30:52,636
parts in their songs. Joey explained

794
00:30:52,636 --> 00:30:55,001
that the producers usually made the first

795
00:30:55,001 --> 00:30:57,366
call, and Lance said "whoever wrote the

796
00:30:57,366 --> 00:31:00,068
song basically knows it in their head and

797
00:31:00,068 --> 00:31:02,770
it just kind of fits". It was a

798
00:31:02,770 --> 00:31:05,135
small exchange, but it offered a clear

799
00:31:05,135 --> 00:31:07,162
glimpse into how Lance publicly framed

800
00:31:07,162 --> 00:31:09,188
the group's creative process. October 9th

801
00:31:09,188 --> 00:31:11,891
was also the premiere of On the Line,

802
00:31:11,991 --> 00:31:14,126
even though the film still wouldn't hit

803
00:31:14,126 --> 00:31:15,957
theaters for another two weeks. On

804
00:31:15,957 --> 00:31:18,092
October 10th, Lance appeared on Live with

805
00:31:18,092 --> 00:31:20,533
Regis and Kelly, then he appeared on Late

806
00:31:20,533 --> 00:31:22,668
Night with Conan O'Brien on October 11th.

807
00:31:22,668 --> 00:31:24,804
On the 18th, he and Joey appeared

808
00:31:24,804 --> 00:31:27,550
together on ABC's The View as part of the

809
00:31:27,550 --> 00:31:29,685
film's daytime press circuit, and it was

810
00:31:29,685 --> 00:31:31,516
one of several promotional stops leading

811
00:31:31,516 --> 00:31:33,826
up to the movie's release. Other joint

812
00:31:33,826 --> 00:31:35,814
promo appearances for Lance and Joey

813
00:31:35,814 --> 00:31:38,464
include Mad TV on October 20th and a

814
00:31:38,464 --> 00:31:41,115
special episode of the Ricki Lake Show on

815
00:31:41,115 --> 00:31:43,434
October 25th. And then somewhere in the

816
00:31:43,434 --> 00:31:46,085
middle of that, Lance and Joey managed to

817
00:31:46,085 --> 00:31:49,066
join the rest of *NSYNC at the United We

818
00:31:49,066 --> 00:31:51,054
Stand concert in Washington, DC on

819
00:31:51,054 --> 00:31:53,844
October 21st. All of the movie press and

820
00:31:53,844 --> 00:31:56,679
promo built up to October 26th when On

821
00:31:56,679 --> 00:31:58,805
the Line was officially released in

822
00:31:58,805 --> 00:32:00,932
theaters. And alongside the debut there

823
00:32:00,932 --> 00:32:03,412
were still a continued wave of coverage

824
00:32:03,412 --> 00:32:04,830
including Entertainment Weekly and

825
00:32:04,830 --> 00:32:06,602
journalist Jae-Ha Kim's detailed

826
00:32:06,602 --> 00:32:09,437
profile about Lance. It was a piece of

827
00:32:09,437 --> 00:32:11,918
framed Lance as the most business minded

828
00:32:11,918 --> 00:32:14,297
member of *NSYNC. And someone developing

829
00:32:14,297 --> 00:32:16,308
companies, acquiring scripts and managing

830
00:32:16,308 --> 00:32:19,123
a long term film pipeline. At some

831
00:32:19,123 --> 00:32:21,535
point during the month, two additional

832
00:32:21,535 --> 00:32:23,948
pieces of Lance's production art came

833
00:32:23,948 --> 00:32:25,959
into view. According to Screenwriters

834
00:32:25,959 --> 00:32:28,371
Utopia, A Happy Place Productions acquired

835
00:32:28,371 --> 00:32:31,186
the script to a film called Lydia,

836
00:32:31,186 --> 00:32:34,001
which was a comedy by Eugene Leibowitz.

837
00:32:34,251 --> 00:32:36,582
Based on an idea by Dottie Archibald.

838
00:32:36,582 --> 00:32:38,581
This purchase shows that Lance's company

839
00:32:38,581 --> 00:32:41,245
wasn't just riding off the momentum of On

840
00:32:41,245 --> 00:32:43,576
the line, it was actively developing a

841
00:32:43,576 --> 00:32:45,575
slate and functioning like a real

842
00:32:45,575 --> 00:32:48,446
production entity. And then there

843
00:32:48,446 --> 00:32:50,628
was the interview with the Calgary Sun.

844
00:32:50,628 --> 00:32:52,809
Lance explained a few things that we've

845
00:32:52,809 --> 00:32:54,991
already covered, like how he only planned

846
00:32:54,991 --> 00:32:57,484
to produce On The Line at first, but

847
00:32:57,484 --> 00:32:59,666
ended up starring in it because he

848
00:32:59,666 --> 00:33:01,848
unexpectedly had a couple of months off.

849
00:33:01,848 --> 00:33:04,029
He talked about wanting a long term

850
00:33:04,029 --> 00:33:05,899
acting career, rejecting weak scripts for

851
00:33:05,899 --> 00:33:07,769
his company, and hoping producers would

852
00:33:07,769 --> 00:33:10,158
see. On The Line as a potential audition

853
00:33:10,158 --> 00:33:12,498
piece of sorts. I think that what was

854
00:33:12,498 --> 00:33:14,545
most important in the Calgary Sun piece

855
00:33:14,545 --> 00:33:16,592
is that Lance emphasized that he didn't

856
00:33:16,592 --> 00:33:18,640
see himself going solo musically, and he

857
00:33:18,640 --> 00:33:20,687
didn't really see it for any other

858
00:33:20,687 --> 00:33:23,027
members of the group either, at least not

859
00:33:23,027 --> 00:33:25,659
at the time. He also said that the group

860
00:33:25,659 --> 00:33:26,829
supported each other's individual

861
00:33:26,829 --> 00:33:28,740
projects. So together these two items

862
00:33:28,740 --> 00:33:31,395
point towards a theme that basically had

863
00:33:31,395 --> 00:33:34,050
run through all of October, and it's

864
00:33:34,050 --> 00:33:36,705
that Lance wasn't dabbling in this film

865
00:33:36,705 --> 00:33:39,359
thing, he was building something. And to

866
00:33:39,359 --> 00:33:42,014
round out the month, Lance also appeared

867
00:33:42,014 --> 00:33:44,669
in a Pop Secret commercial with Joey

868
00:33:44,669 --> 00:33:47,324
Fatone. I wasn't able to confirm the

869
00:33:47,324 --> 00:33:50,091
filming date for it, but based on

870
00:33:50,091 --> 00:33:52,751
the NASCAR races that were mentioned in

871
00:33:52,751 --> 00:33:55,411
the ad, this promo spot likely aired

872
00:33:55,411 --> 00:33:58,071
between October 27th and November 2nd of

873
00:33:58,071 --> 00:34:00,731
2001. Just another example of how visible

874
00:34:00,731 --> 00:34:02,251
he was during this period.

875
00:34:03,511 --> 00:34:06,257
Circling back to On the Line, I wanted

876
00:34:06,257 --> 00:34:09,003
to spend a little time talking about the

877
00:34:09,003 --> 00:34:11,406
film's performance. On the Line was Lance

878
00:34:11,406 --> 00:34:13,809
Bass's first big step into producing and

879
00:34:13,809 --> 00:34:16,212
screen acting, and some people call the

880
00:34:16,212 --> 00:34:18,958
movie a flop. But is that actually true?

881
00:34:18,958 --> 00:34:21,705
Let's look at the numbers. On the Line

882
00:34:21,705 --> 00:34:24,451
opened in just 901 theaters in the US.

883
00:34:24,911 --> 00:34:27,305
A typical movie showing in October 2001

884
00:34:27,305 --> 00:34:29,700
played in about 1200 theaters, so most

885
00:34:29,700 --> 00:34:31,410
films had a noticeably wider

886
00:34:31,410 --> 00:34:33,463
distribution. And most of those movies

887
00:34:33,463 --> 00:34:36,199
also had bigger budgets. To get a sense

888
00:34:36,199 --> 00:34:38,936
of how On the Line actually performed, I

889
00:34:38,936 --> 00:34:41,672
pulled a handful of movies from the 32

890
00:34:41,672 --> 00:34:44,067
films that were also in theaters that

891
00:34:44,067 --> 00:34:45,571
month. Different genres. Different

892
00:34:45,571 --> 00:34:47,070
budgets, different distribution sizes,

893
00:34:47,070 --> 00:34:49,320
just a representative slice of what

894
00:34:49,320 --> 00:34:51,569
audiences had to choose from. Let's

895
00:34:51,569 --> 00:34:54,194
compare what those movies earned to how

896
00:34:54,194 --> 00:34:57,193
much it cost to make them. So for

897
00:34:57,193 --> 00:34:59,442
every dollar spent on their budgets,

898
00:34:59,442 --> 00:35:02,067
first we have 'Glitter'. That movie earned

899
00:35:02,067 --> 00:35:04,691
$0.20 for every dollar that was spent.

900
00:35:05,251 --> 00:35:08,207
'The Last Castle' earned $0.38 for every

901
00:35:08,207 --> 00:35:11,163
dollar, 'On the Line' earned $0.43 for

902
00:35:11,163 --> 00:35:13,697
every dollar, 'Bones' earned $0.52 for

903
00:35:13,697 --> 00:35:16,231
every dollar, 'Bandits' earned $0.90 for

904
00:35:16,231 --> 00:35:18,764
every dollar, 'The Glass House' earned

905
00:35:18,764 --> 00:35:21,720
$0.79 for every dollar, and 'Hearts in

906
00:35:21,720 --> 00:35:24,254
Atlantis' earned slightly less than $1.00

907
00:35:24,254 --> 00:35:26,942
for every dollar that was spent, more

908
00:35:26,942 --> 00:35:29,643
like $99.60 for every 100 that was spent

909
00:35:29,643 --> 00:35:32,345
in making the movie. On the Line wasn't

910
00:35:32,345 --> 00:35:34,371
the worst performer, it's towards the

911
00:35:34,371 --> 00:35:37,073
middle, right next to Bones. So why was

912
00:35:37,073 --> 00:35:39,775
On the Line labeled a flop? The numbers

913
00:35:39,775 --> 00:35:42,476
don't really back that up. It feels more

914
00:35:42,476 --> 00:35:44,840
like a narrative of convenience, and the

915
00:35:44,840 --> 00:35:46,650
question of whose convenience is something

916
00:35:46,650 --> 00:35:48,442
we'll come back to throughout

917
00:35:48,442 --> 00:35:51,169
Unsynchronized. For Lance,

918
00:35:51,169 --> 00:35:53,113
October represents the peak of his

919
00:35:53,113 --> 00:35:55,058
creative autonomy in 2001, the moment

920
00:35:55,058 --> 00:35:57,650
when he is simultaneously a pop star, a

921
00:35:57,650 --> 00:35:59,918
producer, an actor, and a young executive

922
00:35:59,918 --> 00:36:01,538
trying to build something durable,

923
00:36:01,538 --> 00:36:03,807
something that could evolve with him even

924
00:36:03,807 --> 00:36:05,751
as he stayed dedicated to *NSYNC.

925
00:36:06,611 --> 00:36:08,767
November was a quieter month for Lance,

926
00:36:08,767 --> 00:36:11,232
but it still contained a few details that

927
00:36:11,232 --> 00:36:14,004
show how his ear shifted from the on the

928
00:36:14,004 --> 00:36:16,160
line release into the early stages of

929
00:36:16,160 --> 00:36:17,700
some anticipated projects. On November

930
00:36:17,700 --> 00:36:19,857
11th, *NSYNC performed at a Veteran's

931
00:36:19,857 --> 00:36:22,321
Day concert on the South Beach of Miami.

932
00:36:25,151 --> 00:36:27,576
Later in the month, all 5 members

933
00:36:27,576 --> 00:36:29,655
appeared together on TRL. That was

934
00:36:29,655 --> 00:36:31,733
November 20th, and that appearance was

935
00:36:31,733 --> 00:36:34,158
followed by another group of parents on

936
00:36:34,158 --> 00:36:36,930
BET's 106 & Park on the 21st. Also

937
00:36:36,930 --> 00:36:39,008
in November, A Happy Place Productions

938
00:36:39,008 --> 00:36:41,433
acquired the script for Mama's Boy, a

939
00:36:41,433 --> 00:36:43,512
romantic comedy by Mark Hatmaker and

940
00:36:43,512 --> 00:36:45,264
according to Screenwriters Utopia, Lance

941
00:36:45,264 --> 00:36:47,837
was already attached to star in the film.

942
00:36:47,837 --> 00:36:50,410
The purchase came just weeks after On the

943
00:36:50,410 --> 00:36:52,339
Line had hit theaters, confirming that

944
00:36:52,339 --> 00:36:54,912
Lance was already moving on to the next

945
00:36:54,912 --> 00:36:57,163
project and he was actively building a

946
00:36:57,163 --> 00:36:59,092
slate of starring vehicles. The script

947
00:36:59,092 --> 00:37:00,379
acquisition also emphasized something

948
00:37:00,379 --> 00:37:02,951
that has become more and more of a

949
00:37:02,951 --> 00:37:05,795
pattern over the course of Lance's year, and

950
00:37:05,795 --> 00:37:08,311
it was that A Happy Place Productions was

951
00:37:08,311 --> 00:37:10,512
looking to expand and even with the

952
00:37:10,512 --> 00:37:12,399
demands and timelines related to *NSYNC

953
00:37:12,399 --> 00:37:14,915
taking up most of Lance's focus, he was

954
00:37:14,915 --> 00:37:16,802
still treating his production company as

955
00:37:16,802 --> 00:37:19,317
a real development engine and not a one

956
00:37:19,317 --> 00:37:21,204
off experiment. December brings the final

957
00:37:21,204 --> 00:37:23,091
public moments of *NSYNC's 2001 schedule

958
00:37:23,091 --> 00:37:25,292
and also a private turning point that

959
00:37:25,292 --> 00:37:27,831
will define. Next year, on December 4th,

960
00:37:27,831 --> 00:37:30,407
the group appeared at the Billboard Music

961
00:37:30,407 --> 00:37:32,615
Awards, performing the single 'Gone' and

962
00:37:32,615 --> 00:37:34,823
also performing the charity single 'What's

963
00:37:34,823 --> 00:37:37,399
Going On' with the All-Stars Collective.

964
00:37:37,399 --> 00:37:40,343
They also won four awards, which was a

965
00:37:40,343 --> 00:37:42,551
high visibility capstone to a year

966
00:37:42,551 --> 00:37:44,759
defined by nonstop touring, promotion and

967
00:37:44,759 --> 00:37:47,503
also individual side projects. Four days

968
00:37:47,503 --> 00:37:49,520
later, on December 8th, they participated

969
00:37:49,520 --> 00:37:51,873
in the Challenge for the Children holiday

970
00:37:51,873 --> 00:37:54,563
event in Orlando, and his memoir at least

971
00:37:54,563 --> 00:37:57,252
described it as one of the last charity

972
00:37:57,252 --> 00:37:59,941
group events for the year. And then, also

973
00:37:59,941 --> 00:38:01,958
according to Lance's memoir, came the

974
00:38:01,958 --> 00:38:03,975
moment that shifted the group's internal

975
00:38:03,975 --> 00:38:06,733
trajectory. Sometime after taping an

976
00:38:06,733 --> 00:38:08,398
MTV holiday special, Lance remembers

977
00:38:08,398 --> 00:38:10,730
Justin approaching him and Joey at their

978
00:38:10,730 --> 00:38:13,061
hotel and asking how they would feel

979
00:38:13,061 --> 00:38:15,726
about the group taking a six-month break

980
00:38:15,726 --> 00:38:18,723
in 2002. For clarity and for a little bit

981
00:38:18,723 --> 00:38:21,387
of context, *NSYNC did film a Secret

982
00:38:21,387 --> 00:38:23,719
Santa special for MTV and it originally

983
00:38:23,719 --> 00:38:26,356
aired on December 19th. Some of the

984
00:38:26,356 --> 00:38:28,585
details Lance recalls in his memoir don't

985
00:38:28,585 --> 00:38:30,814
match the video footage, but the TV

986
00:38:30,814 --> 00:38:33,042
special and the giveaway to fans did

987
00:38:33,042 --> 00:38:34,953
happen. Getting back to the conversation,

988
00:38:34,953 --> 00:38:36,863
Lance recalls being supportive of the

989
00:38:36,863 --> 00:38:39,728
idea. He and Joey had taken a break for

990
00:38:39,728 --> 00:38:42,594
the film on the line. He said that JC

991
00:38:42,594 --> 00:38:44,823
had taken breaks to work with other

992
00:38:44,823 --> 00:38:46,845
artists, and he also mentioned that

993
00:38:46,845 --> 00:38:48,600
Justin took a break to film Model

994
00:38:48,600 --> 00:38:51,442
Behavior. In hindsight, though, I

995
00:38:51,442 --> 00:38:54,285
think this may have been an early sign

996
00:38:54,285 --> 00:38:56,773
that the group's schedule was changing in

997
00:38:56,773 --> 00:38:59,260
ways that most of them wouldn't fully

998
00:38:59,260 --> 00:39:02,103
understand. I want to talk about what was

999
00:39:02,103 --> 00:39:03,880
in Lance's memoir specifically, because

1000
00:39:03,880 --> 00:39:06,723
when I read that section of the book

1001
00:39:06,723 --> 00:39:08,855
I saw that the conversation Lance

1002
00:39:08,855 --> 00:39:11,342
remembers may have escalated in a way

1003
00:39:11,342 --> 00:39:13,706
that most people wouldn't catch. This is

1004
00:39:13,706 --> 00:39:16,407
what was in Lance's memoir, Out of Sync:

1004
00:39:16,407 --> 00:39:19,109
"When this tour ends, I'd like for us

1006
00:39:19,109 --> 00:39:21,811
to take a six month break. I'm thinking

1007
00:39:21,811 --> 00:39:24,175
about fooling around with a solo album.

1008
00:39:24,175 --> 00:39:26,876
Jive wants me to do it. I don't

1009
00:39:26,876 --> 00:39:29,578
know if I'll even finish or if it'll

1010
00:39:29,578 --> 00:39:30,591
ever be released."

1011
00:39:32,601 --> 00:39:35,145
My first reaction was cool. I was always

1012
00:39:35,145 --> 00:39:37,372
in favor of individual projects for every

1013
00:39:37,372 --> 00:39:39,598
one of us. I believe that anything

1014
00:39:39,598 --> 00:39:41,506
successful that one member did outside

1015
00:39:41,506 --> 00:39:44,368
the ban only made the group as a whole

1016
00:39:44,368 --> 00:39:46,594
that much stronger. Joey and I agreed

1017
00:39:46,594 --> 00:39:49,457
that a break that long would be a good

1018
00:39:49,457 --> 00:39:52,001
thing. Justin sighed as if in relief and

1019
00:39:52,001 --> 00:39:54,558
sat back in his chair. Looking much more

1020
00:39:54,558 --> 00:39:57,467
relaxed than when he'd come in. "Hey

1021
00:39:57,467 --> 00:40:00,313
guys, I doubt if it'll even get released"

1022
00:40:00,313 --> 00:40:03,159
he repeated, as if to ease our minds.

1023
00:40:03,159 --> 00:40:06,005
"It's just something I want to work on.

1024
00:40:06,005 --> 00:40:08,495
It'll probably take years to get right."

1025
00:40:08,495 --> 00:40:11,341
With that, he smiled, got up, and left.

1026
00:40:12,641 --> 00:40:14,770
That's what was in Lance's memoir, so

1027
00:40:14,770 --> 00:40:17,689
let's unpack it a bit. The

1028
00:40:17,689 --> 00:40:20,553
first thing: "when this tour ends, I'd like

1029
00:40:20,553 --> 00:40:23,417
for us to take a six month break."

1030
00:40:23,417 --> 00:40:25,923
This details a little confusing to me,

1031
00:40:25,923 --> 00:40:28,071
considering that they weren't actively on

1032
00:40:28,071 --> 00:40:30,577
tour around the time that Lance recalls

1033
00:40:30,577 --> 00:40:32,725
this conversation. Was this a reference

1034
00:40:32,725 --> 00:40:35,231
to the Celebrity tour, which would have

1035
00:40:35,231 --> 00:40:38,222
been upcoming at that point? It's

1036
00:40:38,222 --> 00:40:40,750
unclear, but beyond that, I think the

1037
00:40:40,750 --> 00:40:43,639
request to take a break is an example

1038
00:40:43,639 --> 00:40:46,528
of something called the foot-in-the-door

1039
00:40:46,528 --> 00:40:48,695
technique, and that's when someone tries

1040
00:40:48,695 --> 00:40:50,862
to use another person's agreement for

1041
00:40:50,862 --> 00:40:53,029
something that's small as a stepping

1042
00:40:53,029 --> 00:40:55,557
stone to getting them to agree to

1043
00:40:55,557 --> 00:40:58,230
something that's bigger. Second: "I'm

1044
00:40:58,230 --> 00:41:00,810
thinking about fooling around with a solo

1045
00:41:00,810 --> 00:41:03,760
album. Jive wants me to do it." From

1046
00:41:03,760 --> 00:41:06,709
there, I see the language as shifting to

1047
00:41:06,709 --> 00:41:08,552
something called hedging. In linguistics,

1048
00:41:08,552 --> 00:41:11,501
a hedge is something that people use to

1049
00:41:11,501 --> 00:41:13,345
make their communication less blunt.

1050
00:41:13,345 --> 00:41:15,925
There are two different kinds of hedges

1051
00:41:15,925 --> 00:41:18,744
at play here. The first

1052
00:41:18,744 --> 00:41:20,925
type is approximators, and that's

1053
00:41:20,925 --> 00:41:23,542
something that people say to soften

1054
00:41:23,542 --> 00:41:26,160
the content of their message.

1055
00:41:26,160 --> 00:41:28,777
Saying "fooling around with a solo

1056
00:41:28,777 --> 00:41:31,395
album" instead of outright saying that

1057
00:41:31,395 --> 00:41:34,012
you're making a solo album - that's

1058
00:41:34,012 --> 00:41:36,630
an example of an approximator. Describing

1059
00:41:36,630 --> 00:41:39,306
the process as "fooling around" makes

1060
00:41:39,306 --> 00:41:42,144
it sound unserious or like there's no

1061
00:41:42,144 --> 00:41:43,765
real professional commitment involved.

1062
00:41:43,765 --> 00:41:46,603
The second kind of hedge is shielding,

1063
00:41:46,603 --> 00:41:49,035
and that's when the speaker says

1064
00:41:49,035 --> 00:41:51,062
something to reduce their own

1065
00:41:51,062 --> 00:41:53,494
responsibility for the content of their

1066
00:41:53,494 --> 00:41:56,331
message. So saying "Jive wants me to

1067
00:41:56,331 --> 00:41:59,169
do it", that's a shield because it's

1068
00:41:59,169 --> 00:42:01,196
displacing the desire and the

1069
00:42:01,196 --> 00:42:03,953
responsibility for this solo album onto

1070
00:42:03,953 --> 00:42:06,909
the record company. The third: "I don't

1071
00:42:06,909 --> 00:42:09,866
know if I'll even finish it or

1072
00:42:09,866 --> 00:42:12,822
if it'll ever be released", and then

1073
00:42:12,822 --> 00:42:15,779
repeating again, "I doubt if it'll even

1074
00:42:15,779 --> 00:42:18,735
get released." This is third type of

1075
00:42:18,735 --> 00:42:20,847
hedging called minimizing. When people

1076
00:42:20,847 --> 00:42:23,381
minimize, they're trying to lessen the

1077
00:42:23,481 --> 00:42:25,804
importance or the severity of what

1078
00:42:25,804 --> 00:42:28,513
they're saying. Fourth: "It's just something I

1079
00:42:28,513 --> 00:42:31,223
want to work on. It'll probably take

1080
00:42:31,223 --> 00:42:32,771
years to get right."

1081
00:42:34,171 --> 00:42:37,070
So by the end of the

1082
00:42:37,070 --> 00:42:39,485
conversation, The approximator is gone

1083
00:42:39,485 --> 00:42:41,901
and "fooling around" explicitly becomes

1084
00:42:41,901 --> 00:42:44,799
working on a solo album. The

1085
00:42:44,799 --> 00:42:47,698
shield is gone too, and the

1086
00:42:47,698 --> 00:42:50,596
desire for this solo album shifts

1087
00:42:50,596 --> 00:42:53,495
from Jive Records to Justin Timberlake.

1088
00:42:53,495 --> 00:42:56,147
And also, something that was going

1089
00:42:56,147 --> 00:42:58,886
to happen during the proposed 6-month

1090
00:42:58,886 --> 00:43:01,234
break has evolved into something that

1091
00:43:01,234 --> 00:43:03,974
will now probably take "years to get

1092
00:43:03,974 --> 00:43:06,322
right". And this evolution happens after

1093
00:43:06,322 --> 00:43:09,062
the two people who were being asked

1094
00:43:09,062 --> 00:43:11,410
already agreed to six months. Lance

1095
00:43:11,410 --> 00:43:14,150
recalls seeing the idea of a long

1096
00:43:14,150 --> 00:43:16,855
break as something that

1097
00:43:16,855 --> 00:43:19,207
seemed low stakes and non threatening.

1098
00:43:19,207 --> 00:43:21,950
Looking at what Lance recalls through a

1099
00:43:21,950 --> 00:43:23,910
communications lens, the escalation is

1100
00:43:23,910 --> 00:43:26,653
clear. The request for a six month

1101
00:43:26,653 --> 00:43:29,397
break the following year became the foot-

1102
00:43:29,397 --> 00:43:32,140
in-the-door to a solo project

1103
00:43:32,140 --> 00:43:34,883
that might take years, and the solo

1104
00:43:34,883 --> 00:43:37,643
project that "might take years" was framed

1105
00:43:37,643 --> 00:43:40,635
as both a label request and then as

1106
00:43:40,635 --> 00:43:43,627
a personal desire towards the end of the

1107
00:43:43,627 --> 00:43:46,526
conversation. It's an escalation that

1108
00:43:46,526 --> 00:43:48,282
most people wouldn't notice, especially

1109
00:43:48,282 --> 00:43:50,740
if they're dealing with someone they see

1110
00:43:50,740 --> 00:43:53,550
as a business partner and as a friend.

1111
00:43:53,550 --> 00:43:56,008
But because of how things changed over

1112
00:43:56,008 --> 00:43:58,466
the course of the conversation, it seems

1113
00:43:58,466 --> 00:44:00,925
like the result was someone agreeing to

1114
00:44:00,925 --> 00:44:03,383
one set of conditions when the person

1115
00:44:03,383 --> 00:44:05,139
seeking their agreement believes that

1116
00:44:05,139 --> 00:44:07,842
they're also agreeing to an expanded set

1117
00:44:07,842 --> 00:44:10,532
of conditions as well. Beyond all of

1118
00:44:10,532 --> 00:44:13,222
that, I still feel compelled to circle

1119
00:44:13,222 --> 00:44:15,912
back to some questions that I've raised

1120
00:44:15,912 --> 00:44:18,602
in Joey's episode. What counted as a

1121
00:44:18,602 --> 00:44:21,291
break for *NSYNC? Was a break

1122
00:44:21,291 --> 00:44:23,597
simply any period when they weren't

1123
00:44:23,597 --> 00:44:26,395
touring? And how did

1124
00:44:26,395 --> 00:44:28,485
their internal schedule shift so

1125
00:44:28,485 --> 00:44:31,411
dramatically? How did it shift from a

1126
00:44:31,411 --> 00:44:34,337
planned break ending in April of 2002

1127
00:44:34,337 --> 00:44:37,263
followed by a new tour, to a

1128
00:44:37,263 --> 00:44:40,189
2001 break after Pop Odyssey, a short

1129
00:44:40,189 --> 00:44:43,115
tour in early 2002, and then a

1130
00:44:43,115 --> 00:44:46,041
hiatus for the rest of the year?

1131
00:44:46,491 --> 00:44:49,147
Lance's memoir doesn't offer clarity on

1132
00:44:49,147 --> 00:44:51,361
those questions, and realistically, it

1133
00:44:51,361 --> 00:44:54,017
wasn't meant to. But what it

1134
00:44:54,017 --> 00:44:56,673
seems to me is that the

1135
00:44:56,673 --> 00:44:59,329
group didn't operate with a formal

1136
00:44:59,329 --> 00:45:01,542
definition of downtime, and their

1137
00:45:01,542 --> 00:45:04,198
schedule was often a patchwork of

1138
00:45:04,198 --> 00:45:05,526
overlapping obligations, label

1139
00:45:05,526 --> 00:45:06,926
expectations, and individual

1140
00:45:06,926 --> 00:45:09,051
opportunities. In that kind of

1141
00:45:09,051 --> 00:45:12,025
environment, a request for a break could

1142
00:45:12,025 --> 00:45:14,574
mean very different things to different

1143
00:45:14,574 --> 00:45:17,548
people, and I think the lack of

1144
00:45:17,548 --> 00:45:19,673
a shared definition becomes important

1145
00:45:19,673 --> 00:45:22,222
later, because ambiguity leaves space for

1146
00:45:22,222 --> 00:45:24,347
very different assumptions to coexist

1147
00:45:24,347 --> 00:45:26,471
without being spoken out loud.

1148
00:45:27,301 --> 00:45:29,073
So while that private conversation

1149
00:45:29,073 --> 00:45:30,845
quietly shifted the group's internal

1150
00:45:30,845 --> 00:45:32,617
trajectory, the public machine kept

1151
00:45:32,617 --> 00:45:35,098
moving. In the final days of December,

1152
00:45:35,098 --> 00:45:37,578
MTV began airing early previews of the

1153
00:45:37,578 --> 00:45:39,705
'Girlfriend' music video. Just a reminder

1154
00:45:39,705 --> 00:45:42,185
that the celebrity era was still in

1155
00:45:42,185 --> 00:45:45,021
motion, even as the next phase of the

1156
00:45:45,021 --> 00:45:47,147
group's future was already beginning to

1157
00:45:47,147 --> 00:45:48,491
change behind the scenes.

1158
00:45:50,061 --> 00:45:52,474
Lance Bass' 2001 was defined by his

1159
00:45:52,474 --> 00:45:54,586
effort to follow the group's plan while

1160
00:45:54,586 --> 00:45:56,396
fitting his film work into designated

1161
00:45:56,396 --> 00:45:58,206
breaks. He began the year publicly

1162
00:45:58,206 --> 00:46:00,015
reinforcing the idea that *NSYNC would

1163
00:46:00,015 --> 00:46:02,429
finish their new album over the course of

1164
00:46:02,429 --> 00:46:04,540
January and February, and he filmed On

1165
00:46:04,540 --> 00:46:06,953
the line during what he understood to be

1166
00:46:06,953 --> 00:46:09,366
an agreed upon period of downtime when he

1167
00:46:09,366 --> 00:46:11,731
returned in late April, the album still

1168
00:46:11,731 --> 00:46:14,146
wasn't finished and he turned 22 during

1169
00:46:14,146 --> 00:46:16,216
Pop Odyssey rehearsals with the group

1170
00:46:16,216 --> 00:46:17,941
still recording. Through the summer,

1171
00:46:17,941 --> 00:46:19,666
Lance maintained his steady diplomatic

1172
00:46:19,666 --> 00:46:21,736
public persona and major features like

1173
00:46:21,736 --> 00:46:24,496
Rolling Stone and Vibe, and by August and

1174
00:46:24,496 --> 00:46:26,566
September he was transitioning into the

1175
00:46:26,566 --> 00:46:28,636
On the Line promotional window while

1176
00:46:28,636 --> 00:46:30,829
still participating in key group events.

1177
00:46:30,829 --> 00:46:33,217
October was his busiest month - press

1178
00:46:33,217 --> 00:46:35,207
junkets, TV appearances, charity events,

1179
00:46:35,207 --> 00:46:37,993
and the release of On the Line.

1180
00:46:37,993 --> 00:46:40,381
But even then, he repeatedly emphasized

1181
00:46:40,381 --> 00:46:43,167
that music came first and that acting

1182
00:46:43,167 --> 00:46:45,555
and producing weren't a departure from

1183
00:46:45,555 --> 00:46:47,545
the group. November brought another

1184
00:46:47,545 --> 00:46:49,933
script acquisition for A Happy Place

1185
00:46:49,933 --> 00:46:52,131
Productions and a few group appearances.

1186
00:46:53,051 --> 00:46:55,597
And then December closed the year with

1187
00:46:55,597 --> 00:46:57,780
the Billboard Music Awards, a charity

1188
00:46:57,780 --> 00:47:00,326
event, a holiday special, and what Lance

1189
00:47:00,326 --> 00:47:02,873
remembers as the conversation that led to

1190
00:47:02,873 --> 00:47:05,419
*NSYNC taking an extended break in 2002.

1191
00:47:05,419 --> 00:47:07,965
Overall, Lance's 2001 arc was defined by

1192
00:47:07,965 --> 00:47:10,511
loyalty, optimism, and what seems like a

1193
00:47:10,511 --> 00:47:12,694
genuine belief that the group's structure

1194
00:47:12,694 --> 00:47:14,203
could accommodate. Everyone's individual

1195
00:47:14,203 --> 00:47:15,983
projects without threatening their future

1196
00:47:15,983 --> 00:47:18,475
together. For this year, I think there

1197
00:47:18,475 --> 00:47:20,611
are three key takeaways for Lance.

1198
00:47:21,581 --> 00:47:24,576
1st. Lance was a team player

1199
00:47:24,576 --> 00:47:27,000
who tried to follow the group's plan. In

1200
00:47:27,000 --> 00:47:29,424
early 2001, Lance seemed to have a clear

1201
00:47:29,424 --> 00:47:31,242
understanding of the schedule. The group

1202
00:47:31,242 --> 00:47:33,060
had publicly committed to record the

1203
00:47:33,060 --> 00:47:35,181
album in January and February, and that

1204
00:47:35,181 --> 00:47:37,605
meant he could film On the line during

1205
00:47:37,605 --> 00:47:39,726
the planned break in March. His entire

1206
00:47:39,726 --> 00:47:41,544
year ended up being structured around

1207
00:47:41,544 --> 00:47:43,968
that plan, and even when the album fell

1208
00:47:43,968 --> 00:47:46,274
behind. Schedule. He stayed aligned with

1209
00:47:46,274 --> 00:47:48,207
the group's needs and expectations.

1210
00:47:48,207 --> 00:47:50,526
Second, even while promoting his biggest

1211
00:47:50,526 --> 00:47:52,072
side project, Lance consistently

1212
00:47:52,072 --> 00:47:54,391
emphasized that the music came first.

1213
00:47:54,391 --> 00:47:57,097
Through the On the Line press cycle,

1214
00:47:57,097 --> 00:47:59,030
including interviews where he discussed

1215
00:47:59,030 --> 00:48:00,962
acting, producing and script development,

1216
00:48:00,962 --> 00:48:03,668
Lance said that he didn't see himself

1217
00:48:03,668 --> 00:48:06,573
going solo. And that In Sync remained his

1218
00:48:06,573 --> 00:48:08,615
priority. His film and production work

1219
00:48:08,615 --> 00:48:10,998
fit into windows that he believes were

1220
00:48:10,998 --> 00:48:13,039
designated breaks. And this was something

1221
00:48:13,039 --> 00:48:15,762
in direct contrast to some of the other

1222
00:48:15,762 --> 00:48:17,804
group members side projects. Chris was

1223
00:48:17,804 --> 00:48:19,846
running a promotional tour for FU

1224
00:48:19,846 --> 00:48:21,888
Man Skeeto and it directly overlapped with

1225
00:48:21,888 --> 00:48:24,611
the group's Pop Odyssey tour. And I'm not

1226
00:48:24,611 --> 00:48:27,094
saying that to throw shade, I'm just

1227
00:48:27,094 --> 00:48:29,818
stating it as a matter of fact. Lance's

1228
00:48:29,818 --> 00:48:32,201
side projects for the year were mostly

1229
00:48:32,201 --> 00:48:34,585
structured in a way where they didn't

1230
00:48:34,585 --> 00:48:36,628
compete too much with *NSYNC obligations

1231
00:48:36,628 --> 00:48:39,352
for his time and his focus. And the

1232
00:48:39,352 --> 00:48:41,736
third take away is that Lance approached

1233
00:48:41,736 --> 00:48:44,119
the group's future with optimism and good

1234
00:48:44,119 --> 00:48:46,237
faith, which likely shaped how he

1235
00:48:46,237 --> 00:48:47,609
interpreted the December conversation.

1236
00:48:47,609 --> 00:48:50,353
When the idea of a six month break

1237
00:48:50,353 --> 00:48:52,753
was floated to him. Lance recalls not

1238
00:48:52,753 --> 00:48:55,497
seeing it as a threat because the group

1239
00:48:55,497 --> 00:48:57,898
had taken other breaks before and had

1240
00:48:57,898 --> 00:48:59,955
always returned to work. If the

1241
00:48:59,955 --> 00:49:01,670
conversation unfolded the way Lance

1242
00:49:01,670 --> 00:49:03,728
remembers, he likely didn't recognize the

1243
00:49:03,728 --> 00:49:05,100
rhetorical escalation. The escalation

1244
00:49:05,100 --> 00:49:07,852
from a simple break and a casual

1245
00:49:07,852 --> 00:49:10,748
solo project to something that might take

1246
00:49:10,748 --> 00:49:13,644
years to get right. His reaction reflects

1247
00:49:13,644 --> 00:49:16,539
his belief that the group structure was

1248
00:49:16,539 --> 00:49:19,022
stable and that individual side projects

1249
00:49:19,022 --> 00:49:21,090
could coexist with *NSYNC's commitments.

1250
00:49:21,090 --> 00:49:23,986
So that's it for Part Bass, Part

1251
00:49:23,986 --> 00:49:26,468
Boss. Our final biographical episode this

1252
00:49:26,468 --> 00:49:28,796
season. We'll focus on Justin Timberlake

1253
00:49:28,796 --> 00:49:31,715
in 2001. The baby of the group. The

1254
00:49:31,715 --> 00:49:34,634
one who traded ramen hair for peach fuzz.

1255
00:49:34,634 --> 00:49:36,824
The one whose opportunities expanded as

1256
00:49:36,824 --> 00:49:39,743
the year went on, and the member whose

1257
00:49:39,743 --> 00:49:41,932
momentum heading into 2002 would shape

1258
00:49:41,932 --> 00:49:44,852
the next phase of *NSYNC's story. His arc

1259
00:49:44,852 --> 00:49:47,836
unfolds in episode 6. Until then,

1260
00:49:47,836 --> 00:49:50,827
this has been Nicole Raposo. Thanks for

1261
00:49:50,827 --> 00:49:53,818
joining me. And remember, you can't spell

1262
00:49:53,818 --> 00:49:55,954
'Unsynchronized' without 'nsync'. See you

1263
00:49:55,954 --> 00:49:58,491
later.

1264
00:50:00,941 -->  00:50:10,861
[Drum 'n bass beatboxing noises]