The impressed producers did, however, encourage her to get an agent in New York City, and she began spending her summers there, attending the Professional Performing Arts School. During this period she started making television commercials and in 1991 appeared in Ruthless, an Off-Broadway play. Two years later Spears finally became a cast member of The All New Mickey Mouse Club, joining an ensemble of Mouseketeers that included future pop stars Justin Timberlake (with whom she was later romantically linked) and Christina Aguilera.
