Jennifer Lopez is the star of countless movies, and number one hits, but she recently revealed on Spotify’s Viva Latino original podcast that her best work is playing Selena Quintanilla in the 1997 film. She explained that the role is still important to this day because it broke barriers for Latina actresses in Hollywood.
At the time of filming, Lopez was only two years older than Selena when she passed away, so it’s understandable that J-Lo wonders about where the Tejano music phenom would be today. “It was sad to not see where she would be now at my age. She would be around my age now, so it’s sad. Tragic,” Lopez said.
Lopez credits Selena for launching her acting career and for who she is today. Two years ago, on the 20th anniversary of Quintanilla’s passing, Lopez honored her with a tribute including members of Selena’s old band, Los Dinos.
“It was awesome to be able to do that, that many years later – 20 years later,” she said about the 2015 tribute to Selena. “And to see her sister and her brother and see Chris [Perez] and the rest of her band that came out. They didn’t ask me to do that, it was my idea. I was like, ‘We should get her family out here! This is 20 years!'”
Jennifer Lopez, 48, will forever be grateful that she had the opportunity to play such a huge star in the Latino community. Selena broke culture barriers with her music and will be remembered for the rest of eternity with her recent star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
This article was inspired by AccessHollywood // Jennifer Lopez Reveals Where She Thinks Selena Quintanilla Would Be If She Was Still Alive