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Biography Continued...
"Gregory knows me and knows
I can act," the actress says with unabashed confidence. "But I
auditoned and screen-tested for the role. It was an intense test and the
hardest audition I ever went through. I had to do two songs as Selena and
perform them as she did. And I had to perform five scenes. I got there at six
in the morning and left at five in the afternoon."
And then Lopez, who was
perfecting her Apache accent in Stray Dogs, nearly lost the part due to
a scheduling conflict. "I was working until August and they wanted to
begin filming in June," she says. "But they decided to wait for me,
and that costs a lot of money. Plus, my fee at this time is a lot of money. So
I was happy that in the end that they decided to go with me."
Once she began working on Selena,
Lopez chose to disappear into the role and allow the memory of the singer to
shine in the spotlight.
"I wasn't interested in
putting my own stamp on the performance--not in this case," Lopez says.
"Maybe if Selena had died 50 years ago. But being that she was so fresh
in her public's mind, I knew that the movie had to be true to her, and that it
wasn't about me trying to become a star in the role. It was important for me
to really get the essence of why she was so wonderful, why she was so
important in our community, and why she touched the hundreds of thousands of
people who mourned her death."
Lopez hopes to touch her own
audience with her forthcoming performance alongside Ice Cube in
April'sAnaconda. Next up is Oliver Stone's film noir thriller Stray
Dogs, and she recently appeared in Bob Rafelson's Blood &
Wine opposite Jack Nicholson.
Fan Mail Can Be Sent To:
Jennifer Lopez
C/O International Creative Management
8942 Wilshire Blvd
Beverly Hills CA 90211
USA
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