Woman Who Starred in Justin Bieber’s ‘Baby’ Video Speaks Out About Her Experience, 15 Years Later (Exclusive)

• Jasmine Villegas looks back at costarring in the Justin Bieber video for “Baby” with the pop star
• Villegas didn’t just appear in the music video, but also toured with Bieber as the single took off
• The song is still as popular as ever, with Villegas saying her daughter and her friends think her appearance in the video is “cool”

Being the girl Justin Bieber was trying to woo back in his first major music video was a wild ride for Jasmine Villegas.

Villegas was a singer and actress in her own right when the opportunity to be in the music video was presented to her.

“I was around 16, 17. I was already doing music, but at the time I was signed to Sony Epic and had been recording and all that,” she recalls in a recent chat with PEOPLE. “At the time I did have a clue of who he was because I had seen YouTube videos. When I first got offered the video, I just didn’t put two and two together.”

Villegas was offered the role after a videographer/photographer she had worked with mentioned there was an open spot on the project.

“He brought it to our attention like, ‘Hey, I showed them your picture, and they want you to be in the ‘Baby’ video, his music video.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, my God, that’s so awesome.’ ”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Villegas was excited to play the main girl in the music video, noting, “It was my first time being in a music video that wasn’t my own.”

The team filmed the clip during the week of Jan. 25, 2010, at Universal CityWalk and Lucky Strike Lanes in Los Angeles.

“It was all day, from early in the morning to late at night,” she remembers. “There were so many people there. If you watch the video, it’s so many dancers and artists. There was never really a dull moment. It was a long, lengthy process for sure, but there was just so many people in that video and throughout the time there, we were just hanging out.”

The “Baby” video premiered exclusively on Vevo on Friday, Feb. 19, 2010.

“It was pretty amazing,” she recalls. “Everybody quickly knew who he was and seeing myself in the video and seeing that online and on TV, it was such an honor.”

There was some backlash for Villegas, based on the fact that Bieber is working so hard to win her back in the video, while she avoids his advances.

“I didn’t get too much love from his fans,” she admits. “They did not like me very much. There was a lot of online bullying for a while. A lot of people couldn’t differentiate between it being acting and it being real life.”

“A lot of girls thought I was really pushing him away, hurting him,” she continues. “That kind of bled into the tour we went on after the music video. While I was performing, I used to get flipped off a lot.”

While the experience “had its moments,” Villegas says she doesn’t regret it one bit. The two to three months touring and exposure from the video introduced her to many fans.

“We started off in Canada, then went to Hawaii, then took a little break around the holidays before touring everywhere else. The majority of my fan base is off of the music video and being in the video and going on tour. There’s the positives and the negatives, but all in all, it was such a great experience.”

After the tour was done, Villegas would “very randomly” see Bieber around Los Angeles.

“I don’t live in Los Angeles anymore, but when I did, we had mutual friends. I ran into him a couple of times here and there, before I had children. ”

Villegas is a mom of two today and says she feels “like such a cool mom, the coolest mom on Earth,” whenever the video comes up.

“My daughter had no idea at first. She heard the song on TikTok videos and whatnot, but hadn’t seen the video. And she’d start to sing it when she was younger, and I’d think, ‘Oh, my God, this little girl has no idea the bomb about to drop on her right now,’ ” she says with a laugh.

“One day, I showed her and she was like, ‘Mom, that’s you?’ This was years ago, but I ended up posting the video of her reacting to it being me,” Villegas says. “So many people tagged Justin in it and he commented on it. It was so cute. And her little heart, she was so excited.”

Now that her daughter — who coincidentally turns 9 on Feb. 19 — is a cheerleader, she loves to share the fun fact with friends when the song comes on at competitions. Villegas captured one such moment recently, sharing the video on TikTok.

“When she’s seen the video somewhere or heard the song, she had already told all her friends like, ‘My mom is in the video.’ ”

Moments like those are “full-circle moments” for Villegas. “I thought it was so sweet how she feels about it. Definitely got me some cool mom points.”

Villegas says that Bieber’s fans have even come around now that everyone’s a little more mature.

“We all grew up together. It is so funny because I do meet a lot of people in general and they’re like, ‘My God, I hated you, but I love you now. You’re so sweet.’ And I’m like, ‘Oh, thank you so much,’ ” she jokes.

“A lot of them were little girls at the time. I was younger too, but a lot of them were a lot younger than me. So now that we’re all older, it’s that common ground of like, ‘Oh, my God, I used to freaking hate you, but you’re so cool.’ ”

Villegas continues to regularly get recognized for her role in the video. She calls it “a humbling experience.”

“I always tell people, it’s one of the reasons why people know me and listen to my music and follow me to this day. So I’m always very appreciative and grateful. I wish I could relive that day,” she shares.

If she was presented with the opportunity to work with Bieber again, Villegas says she’d do it in a heartbeat.

“Absolutely. I’m so happy for him and how his life has turned out — his marriage and his baby and all that great stuff. It would be awesome to work together again.”