Jennifer Lopez took a gamble that most Hollywood types wouldn’t – using her own money to finance This Is Me… Now: A Love Story.
Lopez, 54, co-wrote and stars in the 65-minute musical companion piece to her album of the same name, which will both be released February 16.
The actress and singer did already have financing set up for the film, though when they backed out at the last moment, she decided to finance it herself.
The news comes just days after the diva hinted that this may be her last album, though she hinted there may be another tour as well.
‘Everybody thought I was crazy when I said I would do it. We did have financing, and then that fell out,’ Lopez told The Hollywood Reporter.
Jennifer Lopez took a gamble that most Hollywood types wouldn’t – using her own money to finance This Is Me… Now: A Love Story
Lopez, 54, co-wrote and stars in the 65-minute musical companion piece to her album of the same name, which will both be released February 16
‘They pulled out at the last minute, and then it was that moment where you go, OK, do we just make a video or do we go ahead and do this thing?’ she said in an interview alongside her Nuyorican Prods. producing partner Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas.
Using one’s own money to finance a project is frowned upon as one of Hollywood’s long-standing ‘unwritten rules,’ with Goldsmith-Thomas admitting she was ‘terrified’ of the notion.
‘But I believe in her so much. She was open to anybody’s notes. She understood that she had to do it,’ Goldsmith-Thomas added.
‘She understood it was a fool’s errand to finance your own thing, and yet sometimes the fool is the genius because you’re following your heart and this really is her heart,’ the producer admitted.
Lopez added that the idea for the film spawned from wanting to do something more than just a typical music video.
‘I was like, wow, this is a very special, magical moment right now. I didn’t think it was right to throw out a video and do the normal thing. I wanted to do something really different with this,’ Lopez admitted.
She added that she called up director Dave Meyers, who has directed some of her music videos, and played her some music from the album.
Lopez said she made the album This Is Me: Then 20 years ago and she was inspired by her re-kindled love with Ben Affleck to make This Is Me: Now.
‘They pulled out at the last minute, and then it was that moment where you go, OK, do we just make a video or do we go ahead and do this thing?’ she said in an interview alongside her Nuyorican Prods. producing partner Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas
Using one’s own money to finance a project is one of Hollywood’s long-standing ‘unwritten rules,’ with Goldsmith-Thomas admitting she was ‘terrified’ of the notion
Using one’s own money to finance a project is frowned upon as one of Hollywood’s long-standing ‘unwritten rules,’ with Goldsmith-Thomas admitting she was ‘terrified’ of the notion
‘I told him that I made this album 20 years ago, and now we’re here, and he said, “That’s the story. The story you just told me is the story,”‘ Lopez explained
‘I told him that I made this album 20 years ago, and now we’re here, and he said, “That’s the story. The story you just told me is the story,”‘ Lopez explained.
‘I told him that I didn’t want to tell the story of Ben and I because people know that story. I wanted to do something different. So we embarked upon how to do that in a visual way with singing, dancing and funny in life like way,’ she added.
Affleck stars in the film alongside other stars such as Sofia Vergara, Trevor Noah, Keke Palmer, Trevor Noah, Post Malone, Derek Hough, Kim Petras, Fat Joe and Neil DeGrasse Tyson.
The album will be her first in 10 years, since 2014’s AKA, with Lopez performing the lead single Can’t Get Enough on Saturday Night Live earlier this month.
