Jennifer Lopez credits Selena role for inspiring her singing career
Jennifer Lopez felt inspired to juggle multiple careers after playing tragic Selena Quintanilla in a biopic.
The Booty hitmaker has been lauded as a multi-talented entertainer, finding success not only as a singer, but as an actress, fashion designer, author and business woman.
As the 20th anniversary of Quintanilla's death approaches on
Tuesday (31Mar15), Lopez reveals playing the Mexican-American
singer in 1997 biopic Selena and recreating her iconic 1995 concert
in Texas gave her the courage to pursue her love of singing as well
as her acting career.
She tells Billboard.com, "I felt she had a sense to live in the
moment, that you're not promised tomorrow. For me that was the
biggest lesson. That affected me in my life far more profoundly
than the movie did in career terms... That (recreating the concert)
really freed me up, and it was a very powerful moment. It had a
lot to do with me launching my music career - all those
performances. I sang in musicals before, but as part of a cast,
never as a solo artist upfront or a recording artist. It made me
realise, 'Don't neglect parts of yourself and let people put you in
a box because you're an actress. You can do this, and you can also
do that. Life is short, and you don't know what's going to happen.
Go for your dreams and don't let anyone hold you back.'"
Quintanilla was 23 years old when she was shot and killed by the
president of her fan club in 1995.