Jennifer Lopez has admitted she was disappointed at losing out on an Oscar nomination for her performance in Hustlers.
Lopez played Romana in the film, which follows members of a squad of New York strippers shaking down Wall Street.
It earned rave reviews, with The Independent’s critic Clarisse Loughrey deeming Lopez’s performance “phenomenal”, adding: “She has the kind of screen presence that’s reminiscent of the stars of Old Hollywood, the ones who could set the screen on fire with a single look.”
Speaking to Oprah Winfrey, Lopez revealed her reaction at being snubbed from the list of Best Supporting Actress nominations, which included Kathy Bates (Richard Jewell), Laura Dern (Marriage Story), Scarlett Johansson (Jojo Rabbit), Florence Pugh (Little Women) and Margot Robbie (Bombshell).
“I was a little sad because there was a lot of build-up to it,” said Lopez. “There were so many articles. I got so many good notices – more than ever in my career – and there was a lot of, ‘She’s going to get nominated for an Oscar. It’s going to happen; if she doesn’t, you’re crazy.’
“I’m reading all the articles going, ‘Oh my god, could this happen?’ And then it didn’t and I was like, ‘Ouch.’ It was a little bit of a let-down.”
Discussing the awards at Winfrey’s 2020 Vision: Your Life in Focus Tour, Lopez also said she felt like she had let others down by not being nominated.
“Most of my team has been with me for years – 20, 25 years – and I think they had a lot of hopes on that and they wanted it, too. So I felt like I let everyone down a little bit…
“You realise you want people’s validation. You want people to say you did a good job, and I realised, no, you don’t need that. You do this because you love it. I don’t need this award to tell me I’m enough.”
Lopez did earn nominations at the Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild Awards and Indie Spirit Awards for her role in Hustlers, while Laura Dern took home the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.
