When you think of The Wedding Planner, Jennifer Lopez immediately comes to mind — but she was apparently the last actor producers had thought about for the role!
The superstar actress and singer sat down with her business partner and agent, Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, for Variety‘s Power of Women Conversations presented by Lifetime, and recalled how she had to “convince” higher ups to take a chance on her to play the role of Mary Fiore in the 2001 rom-com opposite Matthew McConaughey.
Setting the scene, J.Lo explained that before taking on the lead character in the beloved film, she was mostly sought after for roles she describes as “the maid, the Rosie Perez type roles, the dishwasher, the this, the that.” Ugh, not surprising, sadly…
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She noted:
“I had to kind of break out of that and convince somebody to put me in the first romantic comedy, which I think was The Wedding Planner.”
As for how she landed the gig? Fortunately for Lopez, she was also enjoying a very successful music career at the time, which was enough to make director Adam Shankman take a chance on her.
She remembered:
“I was, like you said, kind of hot at the time and you were my agent and you were asking for a certain price that you thought I merited and they were buckling back on us. Then, [Adam] came to one of my record signings and he said give her whatever she wants.”
Gotta love that star power!
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As fate would have it, the risk paid off: the film was a hit, opening at No. 1 in the box office. The movie’s premiere also coincided with the release of the singer’s sophomore album, J.Lo, causing her to level up in not one, but two industries!
The Grammy nominee reflected on how important this moment was for her career, musing:
“The idea that somebody like me, from my background, who was a woman, could garner that type of, you know, price in this industry. It was a big deal.”
Of course, Jenny was just getting started. She went on to star in more rom-coms, including Monster in Law, Shall We Dance, and Maid in Manhattan (OK, yes as a maid — but that was different!) before taking a turn to more dramatic work. Now, she’s one of the biggest stars on the planet.
Moral of the story: don’t sell yourself short, Perezcious readers!
[Image via Sony Pictures/Avalon/WENN]
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