Q: How do you prepare for a role like this one?
Jennifer Lopez: I still use the process I did for Selena. It is kind of inundating myself with as much information as I can find, knowing it was a true story, reading the script, liking the script. I felt like I was signing on to do a small part in a very important story about Anthony Robles, and then I realised how big a part Judy Robles was.
I got to know them and their relationship through that process. It was an honour to be able to be part of Anthony’s story and to play Judy.
Q: What can you tell us about that first meeting with Judy?
Jennifer Lopez: The first meeting with Judy was wonderful. We met virtually, and I had many questions. I just wanted to know about her. I was like, ‘Just tell me about your son, about your life. Tell me what it was like when he was born.’ Those were things that I would end up really using for the movie.
My main goal in the first meeting was to make her really comfortable. To make her believe that she could trust me and that she could share things with me. But I was only going to use things that she felt comfortable with and I thought would contribute to telling her part of the story.
Q: How did you find yourself relating to her and her story?
Jennifer Lopez: We bonded on being mothers and wanting the best for our children. Also, on struggling in our personal lives and the way that you have to kind of hide that from your children sometimes. It was enlightening and a real opportunity to show that side of being a mother.
Q: What was it like sitting next to Judy during the first screening of this movie?
Jennifer Lopez: It was pretty amazing because I was sitting behind them, and I am really moved by the film. I was like, God, their relationship was really a major thing. I was happy with some of the things that I had done and I thought everybody did such a great job. Then the audience got up and were clapping. All I could think was, “Judy, Anthony, stand up! Get up, get up, get up!”
They got up and of course, the audience got more and more excited. Then I got up to give them a standing ovation and thought, ‘No, sit down, let them stand up.’ It was a mess. But it was an amazing experience.
