We've spent the last few episodes talking about j Loo. We've dished on how she's changed the fashion game. Then we told you how she's danced and sung her way into a twenty year career. Girl, we haven't even scratched the surface. Joseph, what do you think it takes to have a long lasting career in Hollywood? A lot of botox? Okay, what about charisma? That too? And when it comes to Jennifer, everyone can agree on one thing. She is Hella charismatic.
It pops off the screen, whether it's on at the handle stage, beatybabyma Baby, beaty beaty baby, BENI bum, take us back, take us back, or in a trunk with a young er George Clooney, bitch, locked me up and throw away the key, or dancing on a pole. This woman exudes Correa. On today's episode, we look back at her thirty year acting career, how she went from the dancer that nobody believed could act to one of the highest paid actresses in Hollywood, from Selena to hustlers. This
is j Loo the actor. I'm your host, Lilian Vasquez and I'm Joseph Carrillo, and this is becoming an icon a weekly podcast where we give you the rundown on how today's most famous latint stars have shaped pop culture and given the world some extress able Sit back and get comfortable, because we are going in the only way we know how with Buena's some cheesy and a lot of opinions as we relive their greatest achievements on our journey to find out what makes them so iconic. What
is your favorite j Loo movie? Oh? My god, am I Drew Barrymore right? Now? Is there a right or wrong answer to this? Are you going to come my partner by a pool? No, it's just a question. I just want you to answer honestly, like quick. What is your favorite Jlo movie? Wedding Planner? I hate that I said that? Why? I love that you said that you love a good rom com? I do, but I hate
that I love that. Okay, well, you don't have to tell us why you love it, because later in this episode we're going to rank our favorite j Loo movies. But you're gonna have to wait for that and for me to reveal my favorite Jlo movie. Last time, we discussed how for Jlo it all started with dancing. But remember she wanted to do it all a triple threat like Rita in West Side Store, and even Mama Lupa thought Jennifer was born an actress, which is why she enroled.
Jennifer in theater classes as a child. Money well spent if you ask me, because Jenny landed her very first acting gig at the young age of sixteen. The film was called My Little Girl, and it premiered at Sundance in nineteen eighty seven. Eighty seven. I think I missed Sundance that year. You weren't even born, were you. Yeah? Not many people saw the movie, but it didn't matter to Jennifer. She was on set with Mary Stuart Masterson and James Earl Jones. Say it again. Can you imagine
getting advice and working with James Earl Jones. I mean, so he can tell me I'm going to be king, which I've been knowing. So let's fast forward to nineteen ninety three in Living Color is just her day job, and at night she's taking acting classes. Every single night that summer, she gets booked to tour the world with Janet Jackson. Excuse me, miss Jackson, if you're nasty, fine, fine,
Miss Jackson. The year's nineteen ninety three. She's one of the biggest stars in the world and touring with her is a very big deal. But last second, Jlo calls and says, y'all, I'm out. Jlo had to take control. That summer, she gets offered a role on the Fox comedy show South Central. She was already on in Living Color, but this was her first legit acting job on television. She wasn't a series regular, just a recurring role, but it was a big break and a few months into
the show, well it got canceled. I hate getting canceled. Wait did someone cancel you? Well, not yet, but let's be honest, it's just a matter of time. Okay. So Jlo got back to acting and auditioning, but there just weren't a whole lot of rules for lefting out women
out there, and to be honest, there still aren't. Jenny Jlo kept grinding and going to auditions for films and television roles, and in her own words, she says, if you're going to make it in the business, you need the kind of personality that you have to do it or die. There's no alternative. Listen, you have to keep showing up in the rooms and trying even when they turn you down, You're getting your name out there. And that's exactly what Jennifer was doing. She was gaining recognition
in Hollywood. In nineteen ninety five, that's when things started falling into place. She gets a supporting role in Mefa Media, a movie about three generations of a Latino family living in southern California. In the movie, she plays Maria Sanchez, a woman who carries her infant son across a raging river after being deported for one scene. They offered Jlo a stunt double, but she said, no, Mama, I'm freezing to death if I have to. The girl was committed.
That commitment was honored with a Best Supporting Actress Nation at the nineteen ninety five Independent Spirit Awards, and it impressed the director Gregory Nava, who would later cast Jennifer in a little biopic he was working on at the time. Oh, I know which one first, though, hold on, hold on? She gets cast in Money Train. Have you seen that one? I think it was a Sundance the year I didn't go, of course, right, So here's why I bring it up.
That movie stars Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes, who of course had just come off White Men Can't Jump and had incredible chemistry. The entire movie is built around them being charming and funny. But you want to know what happens. Jay Low takes the screen with them, and she is literally all you can look at. There's that charisma exactly. You can just see her on screen and realize that she's a star. And both of her co stars saw it too. Did you know that Harrelson and Snipes both
hit on her? It was like they were fighting for her love? Shut your but yes, I know. She had two of Hollywood's leading men both buying after her, but she was dating her first serious partner, David Cruz at the time, so she turned them both down. Oh my god, tell me more about David Cruz please. You know what the thing is with him is that there's not a lot to tell, but you can hear all about it
in next week's episode when we dish on Jalo's love life. Okay, so let's get back to that biopic Gregory Nava was going to film. It's about a young the Hannah singer named Selena, Yes, Joseph Selena Abraham Kentthenia Selena's father had announced that Nava would be directing and writing the movie about the Hannah Singer, and obviously, since he had directed Me Familia, Jennifer was a shoe in right. I hate to burst your bubble here, but I'm going to fact
check you. Selena's father made Lopez audition. What the fuzz my girl journey? Don't read for any part? Well, if you knew Abraham Kentthenia you would understand. And here's the thing. We know she got the role, but she ended up having to beat twenty two thousand other applicants, so it took a very long time, to the point that between auditions she had time to work on not one, but two other productions, Blood and Wine and then Anaconda. Damn Anaconda.
Don't want none unless you got bunns hun. I love the nineties. Why are we doing an entire podcast about the ninety We roll the next one? The next one? Okay? Mine? Now that being said, with Selena, Jennifer became the first Latina actress to be paid a million dollars for a film. I remember there was a lot of reservations about the film. Development started only a year after her passing. I think that's what triggered a lot of people. They felt the
family was making money play using their daughter's name. Don't you need to mourn the loss of your daughter, of your sister, of your wife, or as hello. I just felt the movie had a lot of controversy surrounding it. Did you watch it in the theaters when it came out? Did I did? I'm from al Paso, Texas, so Mitch, you know I was watching that movie. Oh no, we all were. I mean, I think that's one of the things that you and I share is we're both Texans Mexicanos,
and we were teens tweens when this all happened. I remember the day Selena died because my mom came and pulled me out of school. No, yes, she was so devastated. She came and got me and I was like, what why are you here? And then like it was a whole thing, we went to my Thea's house. I mean, it was major. So the fact that this happened and then a year later, year about this project about Selena
was like not enough time. Time had passed. But the bigger controversy was the fact that Jennifer, who was Puerto Rican is going to be playing Selena, who was the Hannah Mexicana. I mean, people were pissed. I was pissed. I'm still pissed. Okay, fair and I was with you originally. But who else at that time could have possibly played the role Personally. I don't think that we have Selena the movie, the legendary, the iconic film without Jennifer Lopez
in this role. I don't know that we have Jennifer Lopez as of today without this role. I agree. I was about to say that Jayla wouldn't be the force that she is because in that movie, it proved the singing, the dancing, the everything. This role was made for her. I feel like that Selena's spirit went in to Jaylo. I'm serious. I think Selena would have been this Selena would have been Jaylo. They kind of merged. No I know,
I'm getting I'm literally getting goosebumps and Selena. The film went on to make over eleven million dollars on its opening weekend. The role also earned Jennifer a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and propelled her to Hollywood stardom Baby, and the film's success even boosted Anaconda, a movie about a ginormous snake that had ice cubin it, which was released just a month later. Jlo got it to a hundred million
at the box office. I thought it was Semia l. Jackson. No, that's snakes on a plane now, Well, bitch, how many snake movies are there? Way way too many. But with this, Jlo had officially cemented herself as a serious actress, making Hollywood her own. She was working with everyone. She did a Francis Ford Coppola movie, with Robin Williams, she did a movie with Jack Nicholson. Well, even Oliver Stone was calling her Jenny, that boy Cray. She had no choice
but to ride the wave of this success. And what better project to take on than a film directed by Steven Soderbergh aka the Father of Ocean's trilogy. Out of Sight came out in nineteen ninety eight and it was a huge success. It was originally supposed to be George Clooney opposite Sandra Bullock. Really yeah, but Jlo beat out Sander for the role. Soderbergh said that while Bullock and Clooney had great chemistry. It just wasn't right for the
movie they were trying to make. There's that charisma again. I'm telling you, if you guys have not seen out of Sight, please go back and watch it. I could not believe that Clooney and Jlo weren't an item after I saw that movie in nineteen ninety eight. They were buyer on screen. So much sexual chemistry, so much tension, and the movie is just so well written. If I'm going to be honest, it's I think some of her
best work. That's a claim for Out of Sight. J Loo doubled her Selina earnings and ended up taking home a paycheck of two million dollars. And like you said, these two are just electric in this movie. The two of them even got nominated for an MTME Movie Award for Best Kiss. Oh my god, did they kiss? Did they kiss on stage? Sorry, Joseph, they did not blame. And here's a little insider t Allegedly the two of them hated each other on set. What I know, it
just proves that our girl j Loo can act. And the movie was so good it ended up earning two OSCAR nominations Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Film editing. Jennifer had made it. She was bona fide in the industry and girl was out there were king By the time the film was released, she had already filmed six other movies, and yes, that includes The Cell, Angel Eyes, Enough, Joseph's Favorite, and An Unfinished Life for Me. She was looking really high fashion in The Cell. Yeah. It didn't receive a
nomination for Best Makeup at the Oscars for nothing. The makeup, hair and wardrobe on this film was very special because Jalo never Jalo is romcom Jlo is Selena. Jalo likes to look pretty. Jalo likes the hair and the busticaca, all that stuff. This it was heavy eyeliner, it was gossica. It was pointy cupid's bow that's the little soft part on the top of your lip. It was fashion. It was dramatic, but fashion. Yeah, No, totally. And I think you're right. I don't think we've really ever seen Jlo
transform for a role. You think about all of the women that are her contemporaries. You think of Charlie's Theron, you think of Angelina Jolie, right, You think of how they transform from movies, and that's not really the kind of roles that, well, we don't know, but either Jlo doesn't pursue those roles or the industry isn't bringing her those roles. And I think you're right. In the Cell was the first time where she was more like a
character versus Oh, this is a dowdy version of Jlo. Oh, this is the down and out version of jl in even in Enough. It's funny you say that because those two movies stand out to me because I feel like in Hustlers, it's still very much to Jlo we know, but in Enough and in the Cell, it's Jenny from the Block to your point, at Hustler's very Jenny in the Block. Enough in the Cell were just so so so, still to this day, very different than anything she's ever done.
Despite what she had accomplished when it came to Jlo, Hollywood just really didn't know what to do with her. Most of the great roles kept going to guess the white actresses. It wasn't until she had her breakout role in Selena that people started taking her seriously. Despite the fact that she was already working with big names both in front of and behind the camera. She definitely used that to her advantage. She didn't see the fact that
she was Latina as a hindrance. She embraced it, and what better way to embrace it than in romantic comedies. At this point, everyone knows she can act, but Jlo is a woman that believes in love. She believes in the fairy tale of it all. Like them calling you back when they promised they would, is everything okay? Joe, So yeah, I'm fine. He knows who he is. Back to Jenny. She wanted to prove that Latina's could experience love too, both in real life and on the big screen.
So in two thousand and one, she enters a whole new phase in her career and takes over romcoms with The Wedding Planner. It was directed by Adam Shankerton and starred Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey. All Right, All Right, All Ride. The film had been in development for years, with the likes of Mini Driver, Jennifer Love, Hewittt and Sarah Michelle go Wow, they're cute, but they're not Jennifer,
not even clothes. The film was in production and development while she was still known as just Jennifer Lopez, but by the time the film premiered, everyone would know these three letters. Jay l Oh j Loo was born on January twenty three. She released her album j Loo. Three days later, Sony released her rom com, making history by having a number one album and a number one film at the same time. You better work, bitch. Why do you think Jlo is still lovable as a romcom lead? Okay, well,
think about the checklist of romcom leads. What are the things that we as an audience require our stars to be in a romcom. You want them to be accessible, You want them to be pretty. You need them to be funny, but not too funny. You need them to be slightly more successful than you because you do want them to be a little aspirational, but not too much. And you need to feel they make mistakes along the
way and that they can be rescued. So you're describing Julia Roberts to the tea, yes, but I'm also describing j Lo. Think about it. She hits every single one of those notes, and that's why, during this time in her life, she was the reigning rom com queen. Okay, you're right, you're right. And then she gave us a
maide in Manhattan, which is basically pretty Woman exactly. And while many would believe the Cinderella Story was adamant about commenting on race and ethnics, did you know that that role was originally offered to Sandra Bullock before it was even option to j Loo. I literally cannot believe that. I know. I can't even imagine this movie without Jennifer. And while the critics didn't love it, audiences ate it up. It was one of her highest grossing films at the time,
despite lukewarm responses from the critics. But Jennifer wasn't just working her magic on screen. Behind the scenes, she was starting her own production company, New yor Rekan Productions. I love that she named it that same get it Jlo. She brought the six back, bitch. She's like, can I ride this six all the way to Hollywood? Let me get on that trade, Let me get that New York Weekend. Get that New York Weekend train up here. Next up in the Holy Trinity of Jenny from the Block Romcoms
is Monster. The two thousand and five romantic comedy film starred Jennifer Lopez, Michael Vartan, Wanda Sykes, and the one and only Jane Fonda. Jane Fonda. This was Jane Fonda's first film in like fifteen years, and Lopez brought Fonda back into the acting world on theme with Jalo releases around this time. Critics couldn't vibe with the script or even Lopez herself, but it didn't matter. It was still
a box office hit. It also earned Jennifer a fifteen million dollar paycheck, making her the highest paid actress in Hollywood's history at that time. One that's super crazy because she was Latina, and two the critics could shove it. I loved Monster in Law. I'm sorry the blend of physical comedy with actual comedy on screen. When Jane and Jalo slap each other back and forth and back and forth, it gets no better than two divas on screen literally slapping the shit out of each other. I need to
talk to the critics who didn't like it. I just really want to know why, because I thought it was I don't live in a heterosexual norm where I know what it is to have like a husband and a a Monster in Law. I mean, I guess I could, because I could be buried, But anyways, I just imagine it would be so so real the movie was so good. Wanda Sykes is one of the best parts of that film.
The reason I love it and it has a whole new meaning to me now is that I have a son who is obviously a golden child, and no woman will ever be deserving of his hand in marriage. So oh oh oh, I see, I see you see the future. Let's go back to our star. Jennifer was in her rom Calm Prime. Wait wait wait, wait, wait, we didn't talk about Jeelie. We have to come on. Just make it quick, make it quick, make it quick. Oh okay, okay, so Geelie. All right. It was a very hot script.
Everybody wanted to make it. Ben Affleck gets attached. He, of course, at this time, has an oscar. He's one of the biggest box office draws alive. Then he started dating Jennifer and the tabloids couldn't print photos fast enough. Benefit becomes a national obsession. So you're thinking the movie can't fail, right, except it does. The film is an epic disaster. It's an embarrassment and the biggest punchline of the year. Damn right. Affleck even when on Jay Leno
and reads the reviews and making fun of Julie. Should we read that? Okay, you might do the first one. Okay, Julie will appeal to celebrity gawkers and the certifiably insane. Or how about this one? Jeelie is so horrible that I had to go home and cleanse my palette by watching Glitter. That one is really low. By the way, y'all, these are actual reviews. We are not this talented of writers.
Here's another one, speculating that the three point eight million that Julie has grossed is from the purchase of two one point nine million dollar tickets by Lopez an Affleck. The New York Times headline after Julie came out read Ben and gen finally get some privacy. Damn NYT. That's rough. That's harsh. Did you see it? I did not. I it didn't get my attention, nothing, none of it. Zero. Can I tell you? Sorry? Sorry? Sorry, sorry, I didn't see you. Oh, miss number, Miss number. No, I can't
do my girl dirty like that. I knew what I was in for. I wasn't going to watch it. No, thank you hard pass all this benefit drama really messed with her heart, her mind and her momentum. But she's no quitter, and she just kept it moving. In two thousand and six, she produced Elgante, starring her and her baby daddy, Mark Anthony, but after filming she decided to
take some time off to raise the twins. And after that her rom Combs took on a different theme love, marriage and babies, which, to be honest, isn't really that different from the movies that came before. But you could tell that she was embracing her new mommy status. She had the backup plan in two ten, what to Expect when You're expecting in twos and twelve, and then, just when the world thought that j Loo would be happy making rom combs for the rest of her career, Oh shit,
are we talking Hustlers? You know it? Twenty nineteen Hustlers. The film was originally being developed from Martin Scorsese, but no one could figure out how to tell the story. That's when director Loreen's got Fatia stepped in and she brought Jennifer Lopez along with her. The film is based on a twenty fifteen New York Magazine article about a crew of New York City strippers who steal money from CEOs and stock traders who frequented their club. Get that money, Haney,
Well it was illegal. Whatever. J Loo trained day and night for this film for two and a half months. She trained with her choreographer. Didn't she have like portable polls wherever she flew out too? She sure did, and the dedication showed she'd go home covered in bruises most nights. When speaking about the training for the role, she laid down the truth. I've danced all my life, and I work out every single day, and I can say without hesitation that learning the bull dance was one of the
most challenging things I've ever done. And that's why you never go to the club without cash. Don't be a cheap ast loser. These are star athletes here. That's right. It should be an Olympic sport, Joseph serious, And this is exactly why Jlo was going to be sure this movie got seen. It's a movie that fights back against degradation, women that play a rigged game by their own rules. You know what's insane to me? What Jlo was busy promoting this film while also prepping to perform at the
Super Bowl halftime with Shakida. If I book too many appointments for one day, I'm literally taking a nap to process the stress. And this is why you are not Jennifer Lopez. They premiered the film at the Toronto International Film Festival and presented the film to critics and did the Oscars Luncheon. All of it. She got nominated for a Golden Globe and an Independent Spirit Award. The only thing missing was that Oscar, and yet she didn't get nominated.
What gives It was kind of controversial at the time. I remember covering this on E News and I'm not saying anything, but it is a film directed by a woman about women taking advantage of rich men's soul. Okay, okay, it seems like a touchy subject. Whatever it was, I think everyone agrees that j Loo had been snubbed. The critics loved it, Hey, it made money, yeah, and people really thought she was going to at least get nominated
for an Oscar for this. But she for sure thought she was going to get it, and so did the rest of her team. After all that, what a disappointing end to the story, right, and in her documentary halftime, her Awards season campaign almost got as much screen time as the Super Bowl prep and show honestly, who cares. The fans didn't care. All she does is win, win, win, no matter what, and it did put that ass back on the map. That's a win, right, absolutely the biggest
win of all. And it was a triumphant return to dramatic acting. That girl can really do it all. Jennifer from idolizing female figures like Rita Modano and Selena Kinthania to becoming an inspiration for other young latinos. Talk about full circle. She had married me with Malomma and she's going back to her rom com days with Shotgun Wedding. Listen. There's really no other way to say this. She's an icon.
But before we call it a day, we couldn't help but rank her top three films according to industry experts aka us Okay, Joseph, go just spit them out. The wedding planner, the sell enough. You and I are so different? Okay, here it goes mine, ready, three in order backwards, three two one, Monster in Law Selena. Oh my god, I forgot about that one, and excuse me, it's my turn. Monster in Law Selena, out of sight. That's it. There's no room for debate. Oh y'all can debate us on Twitter.
So we've covered her career, but before we turn the page on j Lo, did he ben mark a Rod? Can we skip a Rod? Agreed? Okay, Ben Again, we are dishing on Jlo's love life on the next Becoming an Icon. Becoming an Icon is presented by Sonoro and Ihearts Michael Kuda podcast Network. Listen to Becoming an Icon on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.