Jennifer Lynn Lopez (currently Affleck) has been popular for decades due to her stellar career in the entertainment industry. The American actress slash musician was born on July 24, 1969, and has had a major boost in her career with her film Selena. This biopic which was released in 1997 was the start of her diverse movie career.
J.Lo was born in New York and had always been interested in entertainment. Her first stints were some singing and acting gigs in stage musicals, but soon she caught a bigger break. When she got her first role as a dancer on Fox’s Living Colours at just 21 years old, J.Lo became more popular. And after the success of the movie Selena, both her music and acting careers took off.
J.Lo has had many hit songs since the mid-90s, but her first piece of music was ‘If You Had My Love’. With other albums like ‘This Is Me… Then’, ‘J.Lo’, ‘On The 6’, and ‘Rebirth’ Jennifer Lopez became a recognizable name in the music industry.
But her role in ‘Selena’ paved a way for Jennifer to auction and be selected for other hit movies like ‘Play’, ‘The Wedding Planner’ and ‘Get Right’. But how old was Jennifer Lopez when she landed the role of Selena Quintanilla Perez in the Biopic ‘Selena’? Read on to find out.
How Old Was Jennifer Lopez In Selena?
Jennifer Lopez was just 28 years old when she played the role of Selena in her tragic biopic ‘Selena’. The movie was released in the U.S on 21 March 1997, and the rising star would turn 28 on July 24, 1997. Jennifer Lopez’s rise to fame can be traced back to the exact moment when she auditioned and bagged the role of Selena.
But the star was not handed the role on a silver platter. Despite having been on TV since 1990 as a Fly Girl dancer on the series In Living Color, she still had to audition for the spot. Jennifer Lopez was one of 21,000 actresses who went to audition for Selena.
Like most movies in the industry, there was some controversy in this biopic as well. In 1996, before the casting was finalized, Salma Hayek was approached to play the role of Selena Perez. But the Mexican-American actress had turned the role down, due to which auditions were held. And it was this significant decision on Salma Hayek’s behalf that allowed Jenner Lopez to leave her mark.
Jennifer Lopez had turned 53 in 2022 and she was not remiss in admitting the milestone in her life which was the movie ‘Selena’. J.Lo may have started her career years ago, but she remains one of the most popular singers/ actresses in Hollywood. With a large Instagram following of 221 Million, the star used the social media platform to pay tribute to the singer. The 25th Anniversary of the iconic biopic came and went in 2022.
The biopic ‘Selena’ was based on the life and tragic death of Selena Quintanilla Perez, a famous Tejano music star, who was only 23 when she died. Selena Perez’s life had been a sensation, from unforgettable music that gave strength to America’s multiculturalism, she is still relevant.
But this young singer’s death had been a tragedy that still grieves her fans. She had been in the process of recording her first English album: ‘Dreaming of You’ when tragedy struck and she was murdered by a fan. The album was released posthumously and went on to break records for release-day album sales.
Her life and subsequent death had been a great loss for the nation, a fact that J.Lo understood very well. So, out of respect and as a tribute to Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, she refused to sing in the movie, the songs were lip-synced. In public interviews, Jennifer Lopez had repeated sung her praise the deceased music icon, saying that she had learned much in her time preparing for the movie.
Due to the biopic’s immense popularity, Jennifer Lopez went on to play different roles in movies as well as work on her music. As of 2022, J.Lo has 8 studio albums to her name along with a string of popular movies. She has also appeared as a judge on American Idol, as well as becoming the first woman to win the Billboard Icon Award.
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Bottom Line
Jennifer Lopez’s career in Hollywood has been accompanied by one hit after another. She has won many awards for her songs, the most notable of which is the MTV Video Music Award for Best Hip-Hop Video in 2000 as well as the World Music Legend Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Arts in 2010.
But her movies have been hits as well. The movies: ‘Out of Sight’, ‘Anaconda’ and ‘U Turn’ are all critically acclaimed. But her fame had its start in the movie ‘Selena’, where she played the part of Selena Quintanilla Perez the Tejano music star at 28 years old.