Triple threat Jennifer Lopez is set to receive the 2020 Icon Award at the 15th annual Billboard Women in Music event, and in the Billboard Woman of the Year issue (which Cardi B graces the cover) Miss Jenny from the Block is opening up about a lot of topics.
She dishes on her iconic Super Bowl performance with Shakira, being snubbed for an Oscar for her role in Hustlers, ageism and sexism in the entertainment industry, and so much more.
check out the highlights below…
ON BEING AN ICON:
I think of an icon as somebody who defines a moment or an era. [Someone like] Barbra Streisand, a singer, actor, producer and a director who wound up defining movies in a different way, because her beauty wasn’t typical. When I started working in my early 20s, it was size 0 models on the cover of magazines. Tall, blonde, white, sometimes Black. But never Latina. I didn’t shy away from being from the Bronx, I didn’t shy away from my humble beginnings.
ON AGEISM AND SEXISM IN THE INDUSTRY:
“As a woman, people want to write you off: “Who’s the next hot girl?” When you’re an actress, you’re always waiting for that. I decided I’m not going to let that happen. I’m going to keep surprising everybody, and I’m going to keep surprising myself.”
ON OSCAR SNUB:
“It really came to fruition for me when I got snubbed for an Oscar…Because it did hurt. But I realized I don’t need to prove anything to anyone. All I do is try to do something more exciting, more creative and more impactful than I did last time.”
ON HER CAREER MISSTEPS
I definitely have my ups and downs. When Elaine [Goldsmith-Thomas, Lopez’s production partner at Nuyorican Productions] came to work for me, I had had the babies [12-year-old twins Max and Emme], hadn’t worked for a while. My last record hadn’t done well. I got offered American Idol. Everyone said, “Don’t do it.” But I followed my own instinct, and it turned out to be right. Once I did the reality TV route, even though I was making good money and had reintroduced myself to the public, my movie career was nowhere. Elaine said, “Wow, no one wants to hire you for anything. You know what we’re going to do? We’re going to create our own projects.” And right now my movie career has never been better.
ON HER LEGACY:
“I will always be Jenny from the Block. I’m the people’s icon. I’m the person that you look at and say, “I can do that because she did it.” I am the person that people relate to, the person who’s down to earth, who’s loving and cries and is caring and tough…”
Check out the full interview here
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