From Pop Culture Time Capsule to the Operating Room: The Astronaut from Britney Spears’ Iconic Video Looks Back 25 Years Later
It’s been 25 years since Britney Spears debuted the unforgettable music video for her 2000 hit “Oops!… I Did It Again.” The futuristic visuals, the fiery red jumpsuit, and the unforgettable moment when Spears receives the Heart of the Ocean necklace from Titanic—all became instantly iconic. But while Britney took center stage, another face from the video also made a lasting impression: the mystery astronaut who handed her that famous necklace.
That astronaut was 22-year-old model Eli Swanson. Now 47 and working as an orthopedic trauma surgeon in Arizona, Swanson is reflecting on his brief moment in the pop spotlight and the journey that took him from music videos to medicine.
A Role He Didn’t See Coming
Back in 2000, Swanson was just another working model in Los Angeles, juggling casting calls and bar shifts. One of those calls turned out to be for a mystery music video shoot. “Sometimes you’d audition for people nobody had ever heard of, and sometimes it was someone famous,” Swanson recalled in an interview with PEOPLE. “They kept the project details vague, probably to keep fans from crashing the casting.”
At the audition, he was simply asked to read a short paragraph and mimic walking on the moon. The next day, he got a call with the shoot time and location—and finally found out what the project actually was. “I was excited when I learned it was for Britney Spears,” he said.
But taking the gig came at a price. His bartending job at the time needed him that same weekend. When he told his manager he couldn’t make the shift, the response was blunt: “Well, if you can’t be a team player, don’t come back.” So, he didn’t.
Behind the Scenes with Britney
Filming the video was a surreal experience. Swanson revealed that the astronaut suit he wore was an actual retired NASA space suit. The set itself was massive—half green screen, half rocky terrain built to resemble the surface of Mars. “There was a full dance crew, red rocks, and of course, Britney in the red jumpsuit,” he said.
Meeting Spears was memorable in its own right. “She was very sweet,” he recalled. “She had her little dog and her mom with her. She was just down-to-earth, really humble.”
Not everything went perfectly on set, though. During one scene, part of the camera equipment fell and hit Spears on the head, temporarily halting production. “She handled it like a champ,” Swanson said. “I think she had a small cut, but nothing serious.”
A Surprise Turn Toward Medicine
Though he had done commercials, print ads, runway shows, and even indie films, the Britney video was the biggest project of Swanson’s short-lived entertainment career. He never expected it to become such a defining cultural moment. “I remember being in the Paris Métro and the video came on the screens,” he laughed. “A group of high schoolers saw me and recognized me—it was wild.”
But while the fame was fleeting, Swanson always had a bigger plan: medical school.
“The plan was always to go into medicine,” he explained. After the video, he applied and got accepted to Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons. Initially, he deferred enrollment for a year due to ongoing modeling work—but that year turned into four.
Eventually, Swanson left the entertainment world behind. He dove into the academic grind, and although it was challenging at first, he’s never looked back. “Being a surgeon is my calling,” he said. “It’s what I was meant to do.”
From Club Nights to Surgical Lights
Despite leaving showbiz, Swanson occasionally finds himself back in the spotlight in the most unexpected ways. “There’ve been times when I’m about to start a surgery and someone plays ‘Oops!… I Did It Again’ as I walk into the room,” he said, laughing.
He even ran into Spears again—briefly—at a New York nightclub while he was in med school. “She was there with her entourage, and she actually remembered me. We hugged and said hello. That was the last time I saw her in person.”
He also recalled an event thrown by his modeling agency, Wilhelmina, where both Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera showed up—but didn’t stick around. “They reportedly didn’t get along at the time,” Swanson noted. “As soon as they realized the other was there, they both left.”
Looking Back, No Regrets
Now fully immersed in his life as a surgeon, Swanson remains grateful for that unique chapter. “I’m proud to have been a part of something so culturally iconic,” he said. “It was such a fun, unexpected ride.”
Even after two and a half decades, Eli Swanson remains the face behind one of pop music’s most memorable moments—living proof that sometimes, the most unexpected opportunities can shape your story in ways you never imagined.
