Jennifer Lopez Nearly Refused to Work in $150 Million Movie Because of Her Ex-fiancé
Jennifer Lopez has never failed to surprise the audience with her mesmerizing performance on screen. Despite having a lot on her plate, the actress always proved her skills and gave her best. Even in her 2019 movie Hustlers, Lopez stunned her critics and audiences with her grappling performance. Although the actress almost refused the project, the filmmaker adjusted a few things to make it happen for Lopez.
Jennifer Lopez was reportedly inches close to refusing the role of Ramona in Hustlers. Turning down a $150M movie for the sake of her family, Lopez wished to find a balance between work and life to spend quality time with her then fiancé, Alex Rodriguez.
Jennifer Lopez Turned Down Hustlers
Appearing as the pivotal character Ramona in the 2019 movie Hustlers, Jennifer Lopez turned heads once again. Playing the role of a woman leading a crew of strippers to trick their high-profile clients, Lopez didn’t fail to shock her critics and entertained her audience. However, the actress later revealed in an interview with Variety, how she almost rejected the role.
Having a lot on her plate to manage and make time for, Jennifer Lopez almost passed on the $150M movie Hustlers to spend time with her family. Facing the issue of having a busy work schedule with her then fiancé Alex Rodriguez, Lopez wished to find some time for her relationships and family. Thus, trying to make time for each other, the Marry Me actress explained why she, initially, decided to walk away from the project.
Reminiscing her work-life balance, Jennifer Lopez stated, “There were times in my life when my career was going great, and my personal life was going OK.” Speaking in retrospect, the actress further shared, “And there were times my personal life was stable, but my career was not great.” However, finally feeling lucky to have balance in her life, Lopez mentioned,
“This is the first time where I have a really beautiful alignment between the two. I think Alex brought that for me.”
Thus, unwilling to give up on the alignment, Lopez refused Hustlers.
Jennifer Lopez Wanted Work-life Balance
Witnessing both stability and restlessness, Jennifer Lopez was finally happy to have a perfect balance in her career and family life. Crediting her then fiancé Alex Rodriguez for this, the actress mentioned having a “beautiful life”. Thus, in an attempt to maintain the balance, Lopez revealed how she almost passed on Hustlers, until the filmmaker made certain arrangements for her.
“We were supposed to do it last summer, and I had worked so much…I was like, ‘I have to stay home with my kids and Alex.’” Jennifer Lopez stated. Mentioning her busy schedule, which kept her away from her kids and Rodriguez, the actress clarified why she wanted to let the project go, instead of giving up on her family. However, the writer/director Lorene Scafaria, who wanted none other than Lopez to play the role of Ramona, kept postponing the shoot for the actress.
“I was so excited that she was going to play a character” Scafaria mentioned about Jennifer Lopez. Desperate to have the Shotgun Wedding actress in the movie without disrupting her work-life balance, the director decided to postpone the shooting dates to accommodate Lopez. Without giving up on the actress despite all odds, Scafaria brought the Ain’t Your Mama hitmaker to the set to play the role of Ramona, a role that won her many accolades.
Source: Variety
