There are some actors who give you pause. You don't know who they are, they
appear on the screen, and you go "Hold it! Who's THAT?" Forest
Whitaker as a pool hustler in Martin Scorsese's "The Color of Money"
was one such case. Jennifer Lopez is another. She was seen opposite Woody
Harrelson and Wesley Snipes in "Money Train", in Coppola's "Jack"
opposite Robin Williams and her swishing hips all but stole a couple of
scenes from Jack Nicholson and Stephen Dorff in Bob Rafelson's "Blood
and Wine". Avid tv-watchers spotted her in "South Central",
and a few remember her as one of Rosie Perez's "Fly girls" in
the series "In Living Color".
Nothing quite prepares you for what she does in - AS - Selena in Gregory
Nava's film. Beyond getting the deceased singer's moves right, she creates
a character on whose shoulders the entire film practically rests. Lopez
is petite - though not really rail-thin - she is remarkably beautiful and
looks you straight in your eyes as she talks to you.
FILM SCOUTS: How hard was it to make Selena a character, not an impersonation?
JENNIFER LOPEZ: That was the big thing from the word go.. To make her a
real person. If she's not, then people can't identify with her. Being an
impersonation would have been a huge mistake. And bad acting. So, I just
approached her like I do all my characters: research. Everything I could
find on her: interviews, behind-the-scenes stuff, anything. Any little insight
into her personality: how she acted differently in performance than she
did in interviews, how her English interviews differed from her Spanish
interviews... All sorts of shades that were important for me to get there.
FS: Were you nervous about how Selena's fans would react to you?
JL: At the beginning. When I got the part I didn't realize how big this
woman was and how many fans she had in the Latin press, in the Latin community
both in this country and out of this country. I was a little overwhelmed.
FS: There was some controversy when the casting was announced because you're
Puerto Rican and the Tejano community protested. Did that add to the tension?
JL: Oh, yeah. It was a bunch of things. There was controversy about the
rumor that the whole open-casting call was a publicity stunt and that the
big audition was a fake.
Well, I DID audition.
Another controversy came up in the Latin press about the fact that I didn't
speak very good Spanish -- which Selena didn't either!
So I felt some of that pressure at the beginning.
A few days went by, then I said, "This is going to interfere with my
performance. I can't get wrapped up in this. I can't read papers. I can't
watch news. I have to do this part." So I went about my work.
FS: What was the audition about, what did you have to do ?
JL: First, you came in and read. Then there was a big screen test. We had
to do three or four dramatic scenes from the actual movie, and two of her
songs.
There's no way you can put a character together for an audition, but you
can give the idea of whether you have the required charisma and the ability
to do it.
FS: How did you feel standing up in front of that huge crowd at the San
Antonio arena for the recreation of the Houston Astrodome concert?
JL: Wasn't that incredible? I felt a lot of love from that crowd. It was
a week into production, so we hadn't had the time to feel comfortable and
ready. I was the first concert scene we were shooting, and because of the
controversy, I was afraid of what to expect.
"70,000 people have tickets. Probably half will show up."
I'm, like, looking. "How many seats does that fill in here?"
"A lot."
"I've got to call my mom and dad."
I had them flown in so they could be with me. So here I am, I'm getting
ready to go out, my heart is pounding.
"I dunno, Ma. These are all Selena's fans. What if they start booing?"
"Don't worry, honey. You did a really good job at rehearsal. They're
going to love it."
We went out -- and they started screaming and cheering, and it was wonderful.
FS: Were they screaming "Jennifer" or...
JL: Both. Selena and Jennifer. I was dressed like Selena. I looked like
Selena. That was one thing we all noticed: they were screaming "Jennifer"
too.
FS: You sure got the costumes right!
JL: That was a hell of a thing: there was so many. I had 50 changes in that
movie. If you see pictures of Selena, you'll see these are exact duplications
of her costumes.
FS: And for the first time in your film career, you didn't have to cover
your hourglass form.
JL: Yes! I mean, no, I didn't! In every movie they want you to look as thin
as you can look. "How can we make her hips look smaller? How can we
make her look a little slighter?"
I'm like, "This is my shape. This is my body. I don't ever go below
120 pounds." I don't have the typical very straight body. I'm hippy.
I have a big butt, and you can't hide it.
In "Selena", it was the other way around: "How can we shoot
her butt so it looks like Selena's?"
FS: What surprised you most in your research about Selena?
JL: When I first heard Selena had been murdered, I remember thinking, "What
was she doing alone?" But that was the kind of person Selena was. She
was in her home town, she felt totally comfortable.
It did bother me, though, and I asked her sister Suzette. She said to me:
"Look, Jennifer, your best friend from the second grade now works with
you as your assistant. Suppose you found out Arlene was stealing money from
you, you guys had a fight, and Arlene said, 'Jen, I have the proof I didn't
do it.' Wouldn't you go to the hotel by yourself?"
I said, "Yeah."
"Well, that's what Selena did with Yolanda."
That's why I think the way it's handled in the film is great. Yolanda just...
crept in, just like she did in the movie. She became a confidante. She took
care of Selena. She became that person who was always there for her.
FS: Was there a point after you've done your research and watched every
single tape you could get your hands on, when you went, "Enough! Now
I have to approach her as a character in a fiction. Sorry, Mr. Director.
My apologies, Family. But now, she's mine."?
JL: I knew in doing the homework that that part would come naturally.
FS: For you. But for them?
JL: To tell you the truth, I never stopped watching the tapes up until the
last day. There were always things I wanted to check out, particularly for
the musical numbers which we were shooting the day before wrap.
Character-wise, I agree with you. Once you think you understand what made
her so charming to people, why they always talk about her a certain way,
what impressed them about her, and once you find a way to incorporate all
that into a character, you just go off and do it. Be free, let it flow.
At first, I was very conscious about Selena's family being there. "What
are they going to think? I'm not their daughter..." I guess after the
Houston Astrodome scene, they thought I was doing a decent job and they
kind of laid back. It was, like, "Go." I felt that from the family,
from the public... from everybody.
FS: Did you get different images of Selena from her father and her husband?
JL: When I first got the part, I thought to myself Chris was the real insight
into the way Selena was, because he knew her away from the family. But once
I met Chris, I felt like I didn't want to bother him; he had a great loss
and he's still dealing with it. He's very quiet, as he is in the movie,
and very sweet. I just didn't to push that. Greg had interviewed Chris in
depth for the film, Jon Seda, became very close to him, so I got a lot of
my insight on Chris through Greg, Jon and their relationship. I just did
not want to press that button. I thought I was a reminder for him and I
just didn't want to go there, you see what I mean? I talked more often with
Abraham, Marcella, Suzanne, the rest of the family and friends. Of course,
they have different views. Obviously, she was a wife to one person, a lover,
and to Abraham, she was his little girl.
FS: You've had quite a year...
JL: I have, haven't I?
FS: Bob Rafelson's "Blood and Wine" came out a month or two ago,
"Selena" is coming out this week, "Anaconda" is scheduled
for next month and Oliver Stone's "U-Turn" for the end of the
year. That one, we know nothing about yet...
JL: Oliver Stone's film has Sean Penn, Nick Nolte and myself. (Pause) It's
a film noir. Weird. Good. (Pause) It's set in present day, but it's small
town, so it's a little bit out of time. (Long pause)
FS: That's it?
JL: ...I play an Apache Indian. (Pause)
FS: Okay.... There is a lot of talk about Selena crossing over into the
American mainstream.
JL: Ah, the crossover thing.
FS: The same thing is now being said about you.
JL: Selena had the ability to do the crossover thing because she was singing
in Spanish. I have never acted in a Spanish movie. I was born in the Bronx.
"Crossover" is when you cross over from one market to another.
I've always been in this market.
FS: There aren't too many movie stars named Lopez.
JL: You're right. Well, if it's convenient for them to say I'm doing the
crossover thing, so be it. I prefer to say I'm Latin, I'm an actor, and
I'm having some success.
FS: Is that causing a lot of extra-pressure?
JL: Excitement and pressure. Both. Very much. It's exciting because you
work very hard to become recognized in this business. I was happy people
were getting to know my name, At the same time, you think, "Oh my God,
I'm going to be one of those people?"
So you do feel a lot of pressure, everybody wants to talk to you, it's a
bit overwhelming.
Then there's the pressure of being Latin and succeeding, too, because I
don't want to let anyone down, in a way. Even though you don't want to think
in those terms, it creeps in and you feel a lot of eyes are on you.
But you got to keep it in perspective, or else it will interfere with your
work.
Copyright 1994-2008 Film Scouts LLC
Created, produced, and published by Film Scouts LLC
Film Scouts® is a registered trademark of Film Scouts LLC
All rights reserved.
