<p id=”par-1_54″>In 1997, <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/tag/jennifer-lopez/?swcfpc=1″>Jennifer Lopez’s</a> life changed when she <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/movies/”>starred</a> in <em>Selena</em>. Her celebrated performance launched her to stardom and irrevocably changed her life. According to her first husband, Lopez hadn’t predicted the positive impact the film would have on her career. He said Lopez was wracked with doubt every time she left the set.</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-jennifer-lopez-did-not-feel-confident-while-filming-selena”>Jennifer Lopez did not feel confident while filming ‘Selena’</h2>
<p id=”par-2_55″>Ojani Noa and Lopez had been dating for several months when she <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/selena-jennifer-lopez.html/”>booked a role</a> as Selena Quintanilla Pérez. He traveled with her to the shoot in Texas and said she spent most nights stressed about her performance. Her career had been on the rise before this, but this was a major opportunity for her.</p>
<p id=”par-3_42″>“We’d been together about six months when she got <em>Selena</em>,” he told the <a href=”https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11065191/I-wish-best-fear-wedding-number-four-wont-J-Los-husband-reveals-doubts.html” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Daily Mail</a>. “We went to San Antonio, Texas, for the shoot and every night we’d come back to the hotel and she’d collapse in my arms filled with insecurity.”</p>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-1″><img decoding=”async” src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Ojani-Noa-Jennifer-Lopez-1.webp?strip=all&quality=80″ alt=”Jennifer Lopez and her husband Ojani Noa hold hands on the red carpet. She wears a silver dress and he wears a tuxedo.” class=”wp-image-3704016″><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Ojani Noa and Jennifer Lopez | Barry King/WireImage</figcaption></figure>
<p id=”par-4_11″>Noa claimed that Lopez worried she wasn’t right for the part.</p>
<p id=”par-5_34″>“She didn’t think she was good enough,” he said. “In the middle of the night she would burst into tears. I comforted her and said she was the best, that she was killing it.”</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-jennifer-lopez-later-said-selena-changed-everything-for-her”>Jennifer Lopez later said ‘Selena’ changed everything for her</h2>
<p id=”par-6_30″>Though Lopez reportedly had concerns about her performance, she received rave reviews for her part in the film. Lopez said her desire to portray Selena accurately made her more comfortable.</p>
<p id=”par-7_74″>“At that point in my career, I had never performed onstage in front of 30,000 people. I felt a huge responsibility to do everything right and to play Selena in the way that her fans and her family would love,” she told <a href=”https://www.instyle.com/celebrity/jennifer-lopez/may-2021-cover” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>InStyle</a>, adding, “I wanted to document her in history in the most beautiful way. I remember feeling comfortable up there and in my own skin and that performing came naturally to me.”</p>
<p id=”par-8_12″>She acknowledged that her success in the film completely <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/jennifer-lopez-selena-career.html/”>changed her life</a>.</p>
<p id=”par-9_44″>“I feel like everyone was making a statement,” she told <a target=”_blank” href=”https://variety.com/2019/film/news/jennifer-lopez-interview-selena-1203313803/” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Variety</a>. “It was a Latin movie, starring a Latin girl, playing a Latin artist and a Latin director [Gregory Nava]. And it was like, ‘She’s worth this.’ It was a statement to the world.”</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-she-felt-insecure-while-working-on-another-early-project”>She felt insecure while working on another early project</h2>
<p id=”par-10_29″>Not long after she starred in <em>Selena</em>, Lopez began <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/jennifer-lopez-selena.html/”>working on her debut album</a>, <em>On the 6</em>. A producer said she was <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/jennifer-lopez-needed-constant-reassurance-recording-1-albums.html/”>very unsure of herself</a> as they recorded.</p>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-2″><img decoding=”async” src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Jennifer-Lopez-album.webp?strip=all&quality=80″ alt=”Jennifer Lopez stands on a stage with her hands on her hips. There are two backup dancers behind her.” class=”wp-image-3707202″><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Jennifer Lopez | Fotonoticias/WireImage</figcaption></figure>
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<p id=”par-11_34″>“She changed drastically, in a good way, from the last record,” co-executive producer Cory Rooney told <a target=”_blank” href=”https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/jennifer-the-conqueror-58607/2/” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Rolling Stone</a>. “Last album, she had to be convinced, even eighty percent through, that she could do it.”</p>
<p id=”par-12_27″>Lopez was reportedly much more comfortable when recording her second album. Rooney said she walked into the studio as though she’d been making albums all her life.</p>