Jennifer Lopez Says She Was Only Offered ‘Roles With Accents’ at the Start of Her Career
Jennifer Lopez, sat down with Vogue México to talk about the challenges of motherhood, her own mother’s love of Broadway and getting her role as “just a girl” in 2001’s “The Wedding Planner.”
The “Get Right” star’s latest interview is illuminating. Not just because she shines in that Giorgio Armani outfit (goals), but because it’s also refreshingly authentic.
A stand-out part of the cover story? Lopez talks about her career beginnings after starring in the film “Selena” in 1997. JLo’s portrayal of the late Selena Quintanilla was ground-breaking, making her the first Latina to make $1 million for a role. Still, as she explains it, she experienced a slew of type-casting even after the iconic movie’s success.
Even after Jennifer Lopez starred in “Selena,” she only found “roles with accents”
Just like the sky is blue, another steadfast rule will always remain true: the “Selena” movie is a work of art.
No matter your opinion on JLo, it’s safe to say she embodied Selena Quintanilla in that role — and became a household name forevermore. Can she get an honorary Oscar for it? Asking for a friend.
Still, as Lopez recently explained to Vogue México, she experienced stereotypical type-casting after playing that role.
While born and raised in New York, she described, “At first, I think I only found roles that had an accent.”
“Later, we went changing little by little because I stayed firm,” she recalled.
“I just wanted to portray ‘a girl,’ you know? I didn’t even want to know what her first or last name was.”
As a groundbreaking Latina in Hollywood, Lopez simply wanted to have the option to take on universal rom-com roles like Julia Roberts was doing at the time.
By 2001, she nabbed her game-changing role in “The Wedding Planner” opposite Matthew McConaughey.
“Normally you would have seen in that role actresses like Meg Ryan, Sandra Bullock, or Julia Roberts,” she explained.
“But once that happened, once they gave me that role, I think things really changed.”
Another notable first? Once “The Wedding Planner” was out, Lopez became the first woman to have a number one movie and album (2001’s “J.Lo”) in the same week.
Lopez also spoke about her teenage children and her relationship with them
Apart from all her career firsts, the Bronx-born star talked to the magazine about motherhood.
For one, she’s already thinking about the moment her 15-year-old twins Max and Emme go off to college. “In no time my twins will go to university and I won’t see them anymore.”
Motherhood has many more challenges, too.
“You’ll always love your children. There’s an acceptance that they have from you,” Lopez explained. “But as they grow up, they start to ask themselves, ‘Why is my mom doing this?’ ‘Do I have to do it, too?'”
As she puts it, “That’s when they start to challenge you.” Still, she remembers being that age as well. “You’ll probably remember being a teenager making your mom go through bad times.”
She clarified, “I don’t think it’s because they’re bad kids. They just want to know, learn, they want answers.”
In another part of the interview, she also said that she has asked herself: “What should I do to transform our mother-baby relationship to an adult relationship?”
She admits to wondering, “Will they hide things from me or will we be open and communicative?”
Another thing we loved about Lopez’s cover story? The unique video featuring the star showing everyone what she carries in her bag.
A few highlights? She’s an iPad girl, has a signature label-less perfume oil she’ll never reveal (so J.Lo of her!) and she would bring hubby Ben Affleck in her bag but “he wouldn’t like that.”
