MegaRecords CEO who uses subliminal messages to manipulate teens' spending Tom Butler as Agent Kelly, the government agent who collaborates with Wyatt and Fiona in the scheme Donald Faison as D.J., of Du Jour Seth Green as Travis, of Du Jour Breckin Meyer as Marco, of Du Jour Alexander Martin as Les, of Du Jour Serena Altschul as Herself Carson Daly as Himself Aries Spears as The Other Carson Daly Eugene Levy as Himself Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds as The Chief Russ Leatherman as Mr. Moviefone Harry Elfont (director cameo) as Lex, The Pilot Johnny Depp, Gwen Stefani, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears and Matt Damon appear as cardboard cut-outs during the TRL scene. Production Beyoncé, Aaliyah and Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes auditioned for the role of Valerie Brown. Elfont said that they wanted someone who knew how to do comedy, Lopes read for the part twice, she really wanted the role, Beyoncé was "quiet and shy" and Aaliyah was "serious and thoughtful". In line with its theme of subliminal advertising, the inordinate degree of product placement in the film constitutes a running gag. Almost every scene features a mention or appearance of one or more famous brands, including Sega and the Dreamcast (Sega's mascot Sonic the Hedgehog also appears in Archie Comics), Motorola, Starbucks, Gatorade, Snapple, Evian, Target, Aquafina, America Online, Pizza Hut, Cartoon Network (which has aired the cartoon series on many occasions), Revlon, Kodak, Puma, Advil, Bounce, and more. None of the advertising was paid promotion by the represented brands; it was inserted voluntarily by the filmmakers. Cook later expressed surprise as her casting: "somehow, they gave one of the title roles to me, and I cannot sing at all. I don't play guitar. I have no idea." Cook said the producers considered her for the titular lead in Josie having remembered Cook from her audition for the lead role in Can't Hardly Wait (both films were co-written and directed by Kaplan and Elfont). Media Home media Josie and the Pussycats was released on VHS and DVD by Universal Studios Home Video on August 21, 2001. The film's theatrical PG-13 rating from the MPAA in the United States caused some contention with licenser Archie Comics, and a "Family-Friendly" PG-rated version was released alongside the theatrical version on home media in the Fullscreen (1.33:1) format. This version omitted a great deal of profanity and sexual references. The theatrical version was