Los Angeles, Mar 7 (IANS): Actor Sam Asghari, who has been dating pop star Britney Spears since the two shot for Spears' music video for "Slumber Party" in 2016, has said that he wasn't interested to be in the music video initially.

"My acting strategy was kind of to move away from music videos. I didn't want to do more and be known as a music video actor, but a good friend of mine was working on a project and they referred me to the team that was picking out the leading role for 'Slumber Party'," the 27-year-old said in an interview with Forbes, reports People magazine.

"My girlfriend now at this time, personally she picked my picture and wanted me to be cast in the music video. My friend called me and said,"'I need you to be on it. Trust me, you want to show up'," he said, adding he didn't know what the project was for, but decided to be a part of it.

"I didn't know who was shooting it. It was a secret project. So I showed up because of my friend. I showed up and everything just kicked off from there," he added.

And now a little more than four years later, the Iranian-born actor-influencer is finally ready to take things to the next level.

"My priorities in life are to remain humble and understand where I came from and where I'm going. I want to take my career to the next step when it comes to acting. I want to take my relationship to the next step, as well. I don't mind becoming a father. I want to be a young dad," he said.