Amid Oscar Buzz, A Look Back At Jennifer Lopez' Acting Career
She may have turned 50 this year, but Jennifer Lopez has showed no signs of slowing down. She's a triple threat, famous for her singing, dancing, and acting abilities, and her recent flick Hustlers is generating some major Oscar buzz.
While we all remember her singing days as Jenny From The Block, Lopez has had a long acting career that has seen her as the girl next door, and now the exact opposite, a stripper. Clearly, her acting chops are enough to warrant a variety of roles; let's take a look back at her acting career.
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Hustlers
Her recent movie Hustlers has been a major success, and that is putting it lightly. It earned an estimated $33.2 million during its opening, the highest opening Lopez' has seen throughout her career.
Many think J.Lo will win an Oscar for the flick, with Vulture's Hunter Harris tweeting her praise, writing, "the other thing about hustlers is that J Lo will be nominated for an Oscar."
Kevin Fallon of The Daily Beast also tweeted his prediction, writing, "I know Twitter is prone to hyperbole, but I don’t think it’s too much to say that Jennifer Lopez may have one of the best film entrances ever in #Hustlers. And she 100 percent should get an Oscar nod."
The star recently appeared in GQ's Men Of The Year issue, in which she was named "Icon Of The Year," and she spoke about the successful movie, claiming she didn't get paid for it up front.
She told the magazine, “I do things because I love them. I didn’t get paid a whole bunch of money for Hustlers. I did it for free and produced it. I bank on myself. That’s the Jenny From the Block. I do what I want, I do what I love.”
She was clearly confident in the success of the movie, and with good reason, as her predictions appear to have been confirmed.
She Played Selena In The Early Days Of Her Career
J. Lo's big breakout role came in 1997 when she played Selena Quintanilla in the movie "Selena." She later told Beats 1 during an interview, "I was young, I was 26 when I played Selena. I don't think I even knew how much we'd be talking about it 20-something years later. I knew she was important at that time, but she really became a legend."
She even claimed she slept in Selena's bed to prepare for the role, saying "I just soaked up everything, I watched every interview that I could. I slept in her bed at home. I slept at her sister's house. I talked to the whole family. I spent time with them. It can be melancholy and beautiful at the same time."
She clearly took the role very seriously!
Rom-Com Films
In 2001, Lopez starred in The Wedding Planner which lead to a whole string of girl next door roles, including Maid in Manhattan (2002), Shall We Dance? (2004), Monster-in-Law (2005), and The Back-Up Plan (2010). These romantic flicks rocketed her to acting fame. I'll do J. Lo a solid and pretend that Gigli never existed, as most of us do.
Will Jennifer Lopez win an Oscar for her role in Hustlers? We'll have to wait and see, but even if she doesn't, she can be incredibly proud of how successful she has been up to this point.
