The 11 best Jennifer Lopez movie performances, ranked

Lopez is front and center in this cult classic, playing a filmmaker who finds herself going up against a giant anaconda with her crew (Ice Cube, Owen Wilson, Eric Stoltz) and a creepy snake hunter (Jon Voight).

Despite the silly premise, Lopez completely leans into the lead role, which marked one of the first in her career.

In one of her most recent rom-coms, Lopez plays a pop star who dumps her celeb boyfriend after being embarrassed in front of millions. She then decides to start a relationship with a regular guy, played by Owen Wilson.

Lopez doesn't hold back in showcasing how her Kat character has to navigate the toils of celebrity, which oftentimes mirrors scenarios Lopez herself has dealt with in her real life.

Though the movie was a box-office disappointment, the Paulina role showcased not just Lopez's growing comedic talents but her dramatic chops as she holds her own opposite Richard Gere and Susan Sarandon.

Playing San Francisco's best wedding planner, Lopez's Mary Fiore character is similar to many of the characters she was playing in the early 2000s — someone dedicated to her job, but who is also a sucker for love.

Starring opposite Matthew McConaughey, the pair serve up one of her best performances in the genre.

Here's another one where the movie may not be the best, but Lopez's performance is one that can't be ignored in her filmography.

Once again playing love-sick in a rom-com, the nice twist in this one is the biting comedy she has opposite Fonda.

Known best at the time for her romantic comedies, Lopez changed things up in a major way when she played Slim, a woman on the run from her abusive husband (Billy Campbell).

Things are really turned up a notch when she finally fights back against him.

In this trippy thriller, Lopez plays a child psychologist who has to team with an FBI agent, played by Vince Vaughn, as they use VR to go into the mind of a serial killer.

The movie is known for its amazing production and costume design, but it also features a fantastic performance by Lopez that rarely gets recognized.

While working as a maid in a swanky New York City hotel, a single mother (Lopez) falls for a guest at the hotel (Ralph Fiennes).

Lopez delivers with both comedy and emotion.

This is definitely her best performance to date out of all her romantic comedies.

From the red-hot connection she has with costar George Clooney, to the perfect delivery playing a character created by crime-fiction icon Elmore Leonard, Lopez is perfect in the Karen Sisco role in this caper movie directed by Steven Soderbergh.

In chronicling the rise and tragic death of Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, who was known as the queen of Tejano music, Lopez showcases everything that would turn her into a global sensation herself, from her acting abilities to her dancing and singing.

The performance would earn her a Golden Globes nomination, but more importantly, catapult her to stardom.

In this movie that chronicles how a group of strippers in the early 2000s stole money from their rich Wall Street customers by drugging them, Lopez delivers the best performance of her career to date.

As the leader of the group, Ramona Vegas, Lopez commands the screen as she formulates her mini criminal empire, leading to a lavish lifestyle that ends as quickly as it began.

Lopez's amazing confidence in her performance makes this movie so fun to watch.

It led to Lopez earning another Golden Globes nomination (her first since "Selena") and an unfathomable Oscar nomination snub that still puzzles us to this day.