Director Chris Applebaum describes how Spears channeled her inner pop goddess to deliver her fiercest music video performance.Lester Fabian Brathwaite is a staff writer at Entertainment Weekly, where he covers breaking news, all things Real Housewives, and a rich cornucopia of popular culture. Formerly a senior editor at Out magazine, his work has appeared on NewNowNext, Queerty, Rolling Stone, and The New Yorker. He was also the first author signed to Phoebe Robinson’s Tiny Reparations imprint. He met Oprah once.

There’s only two types of people in the world. The ones that entertain…and the ones that observe. And Britney Spears, by her own admission, is a put-on-a-show kinda girl.

Director Chris Applebaum witnessed firsthand the consummate professional Spears was in 2001 when she received a text from then-boyfriend Justin Timberlake, ending their relationship. Applebaum gave her the option to stop the video shoot then and there, or to go out on that soundstage and show Timberlake that he just lost “the best thing that he ever had.”

And this being 2001 Britney, she chose the latter.

First, let’s clear up any confusion. There’s the original song and video to “Overprotected” from her third studio album, Britney, with a video directed by Billie Woodruff — both are just…fine. And then there’s the “Darkchild Remix” and the accompanying video directed by Chris Applebaum, which are both Peak Britney™.

Applebaum spoke to ABC News about the video shoot and he recalled finding Spears in her trailer, still in her Juicy Couture sweats, looking visibly upset. When he asked her what was the matter, she showed him her flip phone (this story is also Peak 2001™) with a message from Timberlake, “It’s over.”

“Seemed like that was the end of the video shoot, and I acknowledged that with everybody,” Applebaum says, adding that he told Spears, “But, on the other hand, if you feel like you want to get out there and show him that he just lost the best thing that he ever had, let’s do it.”

About 10 to 15 minutes went by before Spears emerged with the eye of the tiger. Which makes all the sense in the world if you’ve ever seen the “Overprotected (Darkchild Remix)” video. Spears is strutting around like Janet Jackson on holiday, tossing in splits just for kicks, and delivering what is perhaps her best dance break to date.

“This was the Britney that everyone knows and loves,” Applebaum notes. It sure was. Because dance pop hath no fury like a young diva scorned.