Jennifer Lopez was warned American Idol would ruin her acting career
Jennifer Lopez was warned she'd never make another movie if she worked on 'American Idol' but she ignored the advice as she was keen to pass on her knowledge.
Jennifer Lopez was warned she'd never make another movie if she worked on 'American Idol'.
The 55-year-old singer and actress was a judge on the reality competition series in 2011, 2014, 2015 and 2016, but she defied the advice she'd received to accept the job because she wanted to help aspiring singers.
She told Nikki Glaser in a conversation for Interview magazine: "I’ll do things that could be risky because I believe that they’re going to turn out okay. I’d done all these big movies and made these albums and now they’re asking me to do reality TV. I’ve had kids and I haven’t worked for a couple of years.
"'American Idol' was a big show at the time. It really comes down to, what do I think I can bring to something?
"When all of my advisors were like, 'Don’t do this, you’re going to be reduced to just a reality star'.
"It was looked down upon. 'Don’t do that or nobody will ever hire you for a movie ever again.'
" And I was just like, 'No. I don’t think that’s what’s going to happen. I think I have something to contribute.
"I love music and I love mentoring people, and I wanted to share the things that I knew about the business. So it became more about, 'What do I think I can do with this?'
"When I’m choosing things, even if they seem like not the best idea to everybody else, if I feel it in my gut that it’s the right thing to do, nobody can talk me out of it."
And the 'Hustlers' actress - who has 16-year-old twins Max and Emme with ex-husband Marc Anthony - admitted she has also turned down jobs that her team have encouraged her to take because she didn't think they were the right things to do.
She said: "There’s been movies like that. Sometimes they’ll offer you tons of money to do a commercial or a private show, and you’re just like, 'No.'
"They’re like, 'Please do it! We all want the commission!' And I’m like, 'I can’t do that.' "
