- In a recent panel for Variety's "Power of Women" series,
Jennifer Lopez reminisced with her former agent (now coproducer) about the beginning of her acting career. - "When I started, I would always go in for what they would call 'the maid,' 'the Rosie Perez-type role,' 'the dishwasher,'" Lopez said.
- "I was like 'I don't want to do that,' and I had to kind of break out of that and convince somebody to put me in the first romantic comedy," she continued, "which was '
The Wedding Planner .'" - "The Wedding Planner" premiered in 2001, and Goldsmith-Thomas secured Lopez a record-breaking $9 million salary for the film.
Jennifer Lopez began acting in the late '80s, but it wasn't until the 2000s that the already-famous popstar was hired for back-to-back starring roles in a string of romantic comedies, starting with 2001's "The Wedding Planner."
In a virtual panel for Variety's "Power of Women" series, Lopez reminisced with her former-agent-turned-coproducer Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas about how she had to fight against Latina
"When I started, I would always go in for what they would call 'the maid,' 'the Rosie Perez-type role,' 'the dishwasher,'" Lopez said. "I was like 'I don't want to do that,' and I had to kind of break out of that and convince somebody to put me in the first romantic comedy, which was 'The Wedding Planner.'"
In Variety's panel, Lopez said Goldsmith-Thomas had to advocate for a salary she thought Lopez "merited," thanks to her musical superstardom at the time.
"They were buckling back on us," Lopez said. "And then [the movie's director Adam Shankman] came to one of my record signings and he said 'Give her whatever she wants.' The line was around the block."
"The Wedding Planner" premiered in 2001, and Lopez's $9 million salary for the film broke a record at the time, making her the highest-paid Latina actress for any movie in history.
"It was the power of no," Goldsmith-Thomas said.
—Variety (@Variety) October 28, 2020
Stereotyping isn't the only challenge Lopez faced early in her career. In a 2018 interview with InStyle, Lopez said a lot of people in the industry told her she should lose weight. Now Lopez is a global superstar, and runs film company Nuyorican Productions with Goldsmith-Thomas. Together they produced Lopez's two upcoming films, "Marry Me" and "The Godmother."
Read the full conversation between Lopez and Goldsmith-Thomas on Variety here »
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