Actress, singer and dancer Jennifer Lopez has revealed that she was not paid for her role as vengeful leader Ramona in the hit movie Hustlers.
“I do things because I love them. I didn’t get paid a whole bunch of money for Hustlers. I did it for free and produced it. I bank on myself. That’s the Jenny From the Block. I do what I want, I do what I love. But it was kind of a really different mindset to get into to play Ramona.”
Lopez played Ramona, the ringleader of a group of strippers hell bent on taking money from their customers, because they thought the men had got their riches from others.
Hustlers also stars Constance Wu, Julia Stiles, Mette Towley, Wai Ching Ho, Mercedes Ruehl, singers Lizzo and Cardi B, and plenty of others.
When Hustlers hit the theaters, it grabbed $31.5 million in its opening weekend, while Lopez grabbed attention as a possible Oscar contender for her role.
Lopez pointed out that Hustlers was a woman-run endeavor that hit it big.
“This is our movie where we run s—. They know it’s all women producers, women director, women writer, all women starring in it. And they kind of took ownership of that.
“We’ve been watching men take advantage of women in movies a long time. And so it was a fun kind of ride to see the tables turn.”
Lopez also says she appreciated the challenges Ramona faced, and understood that the woman also had some good in her.
“One of the things I loved about Ramona was that she had her own set of morals and values. They were skewed, from being in his world for a long time. Which was why she could be like, ‘F— them. These guys are scumbags. They’re not even gonna miss this money.’
Because when you’re around criminals, you become a little bit of a criminal. But I felt like Ramona was in many ways a good person. Whether she was doing great things or bad things, she was very clear about what she wanted and what her goals were.”
From what Lopez is saying, she’s seeking different roles from when she was younger– roles that go a little deeper.
“The movies that I look for now, I’m looking for not just interesting and multilayered characters, which Ramona really was, but something that tells you about what’s going on in the culture.
So the whole idea of the Wall Street guys was interesting to me. These girls are cheating them, but these guys are cheating everybody!”
