Jennifer Lopez broke the glass ceiling for Latina actresses—and she attributes that success to her attitude.
In a new conversation with Variety’s Awards Circuit podcast, J. Lo was asked about the lack of representation in film and how she stays positive.
“I heard somebody say change is slow—positive change is slow, and sometimes that can be frustrating,” she said at around the 45:35 minute mark of the video below. “But I think so long as we’re moving in the direction, that’s a good thing. When we take steps back, that’s when it gets really scary. And that’s why the state of what’s going on is scary.”
Lopez, who publicly backed Kamala Harris in the presidential election, explained that now more than ever is the time to “not be divisive” or focus on “the negative.”
The 55-year-old added that we need to “use our voices, to use our art, to put love out into the world, be that love, and be that positive kind of vision for what we want our lives to be.”
The singer pointed out that at the beginning of her career, there weren't many roles for Latinas that didn't give into stereotypes.
“Now I play in romantic comedies, I’m one of the romantic comedy actresses that is a go-to," she said. "It was unheard of back when I started. I was auditioning for roles with accents and all kinds of things—not just a person.
“I was like, ‘I’m just a girl, too. I’m just a romantic girl too just like any other girl. Why can’t I play that role?’ And that’s kind of how I saw it, and because I believed that, I believe that that’s why it happened. … That’s amazing. That’s not how it was 25 years ago when I was in my 20s.”
Lopez’s next film Unstoppable tells the story of wrestler Anthony Robles (Jharrel Jerome), who, despite being born with one leg, won a national championship in 2011 when competing at Arizona State University. Lopez plays Judy Robles, Anthony’s mother.
Unstoppable is slated to arrive to theaters on Dec. 6.