Jennifer Lopez Once Revealed the Movie That Reflected Her Real-Life Divorce From Marc Anthony
Jennifer Lopez once starred in a movie playing a character experiencing martial problems. The action thriller’s plot was very familiar to Lopez’s own life at the time, who was in the midst of a devastating breakup.
Jennifer Lopez personally related to her character in ‘Parker’
The 2013 feature film Parker couldn’t have come at a better time for Lopez. The movie was an action thriller where Lopez starred alongside Jason Statham. But the project ended up being a lot deeper for Lopez than she initially thought. Lopez played a real-estate agent who hit rock bottom after going through a heavy divorce. The film’s director, Taylor Hackford, recruited Lopez for the role because he had faith she’d be able to strip away her glamour for the sake of the film.
“I say that I’m doing a film starring Jason Statham and that I don’t want the glamorous Jennifer Lopez. I want someone real and someone I know you are,” Hackford once told USA Today. “This character never gives up, and that’s you. Jennifer is absolutely the real deal. She’s an unbelievable worker. People have the sense that because she’s famous, she’s removed from the real world — and she’s not.”
But the movie also had a therapeutic effect on Lopez. While shooting the film, she was going through an intense divorce with her ex-husband, Marc Anthony. This brought her closer to her Parker character, as Lopez felt she was hitting rock bottom.
“When I did the movie, I had just decided to get divorced myself. I felt in that low place. It was the worst time in my life as well. This character was at the worst point in her life. I had that to use. Thank God I had that to use,” she said.
This helped Lopez channel her real-life feelings through her performance.
“It was therapeutic. I know exactly what that feels like. Getting out of bed every day and getting to work is such a job. I’m not the type to do Ambien or wine or pills. When you go to work, you can’t be the person who puts that on everybody. You have to be professional,” she said.
Jennifer Lopez found peace after doing ‘Parker’
Starring in Parker fulfilled Lopez artistically and spiritually. The movie represented a good sign for Lopez, giving the actor much-needed hope for her future.
“What I needed in that moment was [to know] that it all gets better. You just have to hang in there. It gets better. When [Hackford] first called me, I wasn’t thinking about divorce at all. Suddenly, it happened, and my whole world fell apart, and then there was this therapy of this character. Everything happens for a reason. It’s true. It actually is true,” she said.
Lopez considered her Parker character Leslie Rodgers a nice reintroduction to acting, which she’d taken a quick hiatus from for some time. She also began dating her ex-boyfriend Casper Smart after her split from Anthony, which helped reinvigorate her. These experiences helped Lopez recognize what she truly wanted out of life.
“Peace. Inner peace. Feeling good about yourself and feeling good about where you are. Just getting to that place where I’m good right here, I’m doing what I love, my kids are healthy. I’m healthy. I’m surrounded by love and goodness. That’s what I want. I just want to be happy and be fulfilled creatively,” she said. “Overall, I just want to be happy, me and my kids. It’s a simple, difficult thing. Doesn’t everyone just want to feel comfortable in their own skin?”
