'I was in a press conference with Jennifer Lopez and she’s not a woman who responds to no.'

It's 6am. I've awoken an hour earlier than my typical wake-up call. 

I'm not one of those people who base their personality around the fact they're an early riser. I like my sleep. A lot.

But I'm happy to wake up a little earlier. I gleefully set my alarm to 'get loud' the night before. 

I have an important appointment with a special lady.

I'm waking up for Jennifer Lopez. I am joining the superstar for an intimate press conference with... well, probably a hundred other journalists around the world.

But it feels like there are only two of us in the (virtual) room. It's me and Jenny from the Block. 

There's always been something divine, something otherworldly about Jennifer Lopez. Whether it's her inability to age, her perfectly proportioned face potentially sculpted by angels, or her innate gift to seamlessly straddle music, film and fashion better than literally anyone else.

In order to greet her, I feel possessed to bathe in a tub of her fragrance Glow in order to be worthy to be in her presence. I do shower (not in Glow, but I do a quick spritz of a celebrity adjacent scent) and prepare for the day. 

I've learned that J.Lo typically begins each day with a protein shake compiled from strawberries, blueberries, Greek yogurt, cinnamon, honey, and lemon juice. I crawled out of bed like a grumpy troll emerging from under a bridge, poured myself a coffee from my ALDI pod machine and dropped a couple of pieces of Woolies white bread in my toaster. 

I'm ready to meet Jennifer Lopez. 

But Jennifer Lopez is not ready to meet me.

The 'On The Floor' singer is running late, 50 minutes late to be precise, as any rightful diva would be.

She's a busy lady. She's got a music empire to build, twins and step-kids to raise, and a husband named Ben Affleck she needs to remind to smile.

And then, she's here! Jennifer Lopez appears wearing a belted black skivvy and matching extra wide-brim black hat. She looks like a sexy gondolier preparing to rob a nearby yacht (perhaps the narrative of her next music video? Call me, Jenny!).

This hat is really something. Jennifer Lopez's hat just called me poor in Spanish.

She finished her look with gold hoop earrings and a slicked-back side ponytail. As the questions began, Jennifer Lopez fondled the four chunky rings that adorned her hands, or lowered the brim of her hat before answering a question.

Don't be fooled by the rocks that she got. Image: Prime Video. 

So what are we here for? Other than being mesmerised by the size of J.Lo's hat? (I swear the brim of this hat expanded as the press conference went on.) 

Jennifer Lopez is promoting her first visual album in the form of the Prime Video movie This Is Me…Now: A Love Story, alongside director Dave Meyers. 

The film (which I had the pleasure of previewing) is quite difficult to describe. It has been summarised by the streaming platform as "a narrative-driven cinematic odyssey, steeped in mythological storytelling and personal healing," which will feature "fantastical costumes, breathtaking choreography, and star-studded cameos, this panorama is an introspective retrospective of Jennifer’s resilient heart."

I can confirm her heart is resilient and the cameos are indeed studded with stars, which include Keke Palmer, Trevor Noah and Post Malone. 

Lopez and Meyers sit down in the press conference for an interview with Variety editor, Jenelle Riley, where the pop star opened up on why she felt the urge to turn her new album into a movie. 

"I just don't want to do the normal, put out a video and do this and do that and promo and blah, blah, blah," Lopez said. "I thought to myself, there's more to this story, there's something bigger I want to do with this music."

This film is certainly no 'blah blah blah' affair, but it's also a spectacle that's difficult to put into words. Jennifer described it as "not quite a film, not quite a video, but a story nonetheless".  

Watch the trailer for This Is Me…Now: A Love Story on Prime Video. Post continues after video.

A story nonetheless it is! And there's a lot of song and dance too! Lopez said she was inspired by "every musical" she's ever seen, which includes Funny Girl, West Side Story and Beauty in the Beast.

Meyers opened up on how the film was a labour of love for Lopez, who shopped the idea around to production houses who didn't get her vision before she decided to fund it herself. 

The singer was especially invested in telling this story as the movie is semi-autobiographical. 

"There's not a project that I've ever been involved with music or movies or anything that I didn't put a bunch of my life into and a lot of my personal experience. I think as an artist, that's all you really have to draw on, the experience you have," she said.

"There are parts of it that feel kind of very autobiographical, and then there are parts of it that are kind of meta, not quite exactly what happened, but also the feeling of that is what happened."  

And what happened to the singer is a whole lot of heartbreak on the way to finding her true love in her husband, Ben Affleck. Lopez has been married three times and broke off an earlier engagement to Affleck before they reunited in 2021 and got married in 2022.  

Love don't cost a thing... but this hat cost more than my monthly rent. Image: Prime Video. 

The director noted one storyline in the movie was inspired by "the pain that she went through when she broke up with Ben the first time," back in 2004. Lopez noted that "the movie shows that there have been struggles and there have been hard times that nobody knew about, that I kept to myself."

Jennifer found the confidence to be empowered to make a film from a conversation she had with her husband.  "Ben kind of said this to me. I was like, 'I don't write. I don't do this.' He was like, 'You do. You write. You direct. You produce. You do all the things. You choreograph. Start stepping into that'," she recalled.

It turns out, Ben Affleck is not just J.Lo's movie muse, he's also her hype man. 

And by association, I like to consider him my hype man too. 

Affleck served as co-writer for the movie, which birthed an interesting dynamic between the spouses. Meyers recalled a moment when Ben was "talking to both of us, saying it couldn't be done in the way that we wanted to do it. And Jen just kind of looked at me like, 'Okay, we're going to do it.' 

Jennifer Lopez is not a woman who wants to hear the word 'no'. 

"Don't tell me I can't do something. That's all. It is a very simple thing," she advised in the press conference.

This truly chaotic movie extravaganza is a testament to this. If this is Jennifer Lopez now, I can't wait for what the future has in store.  

This Is Me…Now: A Love Story is available to stream on Prime Video from February 16, 2024.

Feature image: Prime Video.

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