Jennifer Lopez Recalls Being Recognized in Public for the First Time

It’s difficult to imagine Jennifer Lopez going to Target without getting recognized, but long ago, the Bronx native was not famous. She recently recalled the first time a stranger recognized her in public—and how it totally freaked her out.

It happened after the 1997 release of Selena, in which J.Lo starred as the titular Queen of Tejano Music. “I remember walking down the street that first time and somebody calling my name and [me] thinking it was somebody who knew me,” Lopez said in a new interview with Variety. “And I turned around and I didn’t know them.”

J.Lo reenacted the moment before adding, “I got so freaked out. I was like, ‘Oh my God, I’m not anonymous anymore. I can’t just walk down the street. Like, if somebody calls me, it’s not somebody I know, it’s somebody I don’t know.’”

Playing tragically murdered music legend Selena Quintanilla-Pérez transformed Jenny From the Block’s life. “That was when I kind of became famous,” Lopez noted. “I had been doing television and actually had done a few movies already, but with Selena, there was a new level of fame.”

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Vinnie Zuffante//Getty Images

Prior to Lopez’s portrayal of Quintanilla-Pérez in the ’97 biopic, she had been a Fly Girl on sketch-comedy show In Living Color and had starred in films Money Train (1995) and Jack (1996). But Selena was her breakthrough, even landing her a Best Actress nomination at the 55th Golden Globes the following year.

Now, of course, Lopez has numerous pictures under her belt, including her latest project, This Is Me … Now: A Love Story, a musical film tied to her ninth studio album. The movie will be available to stream on Prime Video on February 15.

Joel is the editorial and social media assistant for HarpersBAZAAR.com, where he covers all things celebrity news. When he steps away from the keyboard, you can likely find him singing off-key at concerts, scavenging thrift stores for loud wardrobe staples, or perusing bookstores for the next great gay romance novel.

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