Jennifer Lopez gracefully handles taboo comment at film screening
Age continues to be one of Hollywood’s biggest taboos.
Jennifer Lopez and a crowd of her supporters were left stunned when an interview quipped about her age at the Sunday screening of her latest film Unstoppable. The 55-year-old superstar sat across from Variety’s Senior Awards Editor Clayton Davis for an interaction at the event.
Interviewer hits Jennifer Lopez with age comment
According to a video shared by TMZ, Davis may not have possibly directed his age remarks to her with any ill intentions. He also interviewed the Hustlers actress for Variety’s Awards Circuit podcast last month. Highlighting her decades-long contribution to the entertainment industry, he nudged the songbird with a reminder: “I can’t believe it’s been 30 years since Selena.” ‘Jenny from the Block’ led the titular role of the iconic Mexican-American singer Selena Quintanilla-Perez in the 1997 biopic – still regarded as one of Lopez’s top-notch and unbeatable cinematic deliveries.
He went on, “I can’t believe that in 30 years we’re going to do a retrospective of this, and you will be 60 by then, which is…” Undoubtedly, Davis verbally turning back the clock while looking ahead at the legacy already established by JLo left the singer-actress speechless. She curtly replied, “Wow.”
Pushing further, Davis continued on the same page, saying that the “Marry Me” star was “getting up there” in age. The ordeal instantly prompted loud gasps from the seated audience. Someone was even heard asking, “Did he just say that?”
Jennifer Lopez, though seemingly shocked, thanks fans for being with her for a ‘long time’
Meanwhile, a presumably shocked Lopez quietly responded, “I am.” In an attempt to clear up the act, Davis announced that it was merely a “joke.” On the other hand, Jennifer didn’t particularly appear ticked off by the age comment. Directly addressing the fans, she expressed her gratitude to those who had stuck it out with her for the long haul. “What a journey this has been,” she thanked the crowd. “I honestly feel that the best is yet to come.”
“I honestly feel that my creativity and who I am as an artist is like you said… I also feel that this for me, was another kind of level of going deeper into who I am as a person or as an artist. And these type of roles change you.”
Explaining further, she added that roles like these “come to you at times in your life when you need them, and they help you grow and they heal you in a way.”
The “Dance Again” crooner opted for a blue ensemble, driving attention to her sheet shirt, for the screening of Unstoppable, a movie co-produced by her ex-husband, Ben Affleck. Her public outing for the film comes just days after the former spouses came together to support their children for a school play. Affleck’s ex Jennifer Garner was also there.