Jennifer Lopez, 54, asked Khloe Kardashian, 39, to appear in her new musical film, This Is Me…Now: A Love Story, but the reality star turned down the offer. While the Prime Video project that comes out February 16 is filled with famous faces, including Jennifer herself, as well as Jane Fonda, Trevor Noah, Keke Palmer, and more stars, there were some celebrities who declined appearing in the film, including Khloe. Jennifer’s February 13 interview with Variety noted the “irony” that Khloe, a member of the “most photographed family,” not wanting to do the movie “was not lost” on the singer.
“People are scared to put themselves out there,” Jennifer told the outlet in the interview. “I get it. It took me a long time. I’m scared. But I don’t act like I’m scared — that’s the secret to my whole f***ing career.”
Jennifer’s musical film, which is being released with her new album that’s inspired by her relationship with Ben Affleck, 51, includes a star-studded list of cameos. Along with Jennifer, Ben, and the celebs mentioned above, Sofia Vergara, Post Malone, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Kim Petras, Derek Hough and Jay Shetty are also in the movie. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Jennifer revealed that she self-produced the project, which cost $20 million, according to Variety.
“Everybody thought I was crazy when I said I would do it. We did have financing, and then that fell out,” the “Dance Again” singer told THR. “They pulled out at the last minute, and then it was that moment where you go, ‘OK, do we just make a video or do we go ahead and do this thing?’ Elaine [Goldsmith-Thomas, the director] and I talked about it. We talked about whether or not I do this or I just go make two videos and go the normal route. I decided that I didn’t want to do that. I wanted to see this vision through.”
Jennifer also talked about her decision to include comedy in This Is Me…Now: A Love Story. “The most heartbreakingly great moments in life are when you’re crying and laughing at the same time. To me, life is really funny,” she said. “Maybe that’s why I love romantic comedies — not that this is anything close to a romantic comedy, but those moments for me are the ones in life that show you how important it is to be able to laugh at yourself. You have to, because it’s absurd sometimes the things that you find yourself in or that you go through.”
Jennifer celebrated the premiere of her musical film at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on February 13. Ben was there to support his wife, and the couple sweetly kissed while posing for pictures on the red carpet. In addition to releasing her musical movie and new album, Jennifer is also dropping a documentary on February 27 called The Greatest Love Story Never Told, which will show the behind-the-scenes process of how both projects came to be.