Once you are a superstar celebrity, life can appear to be very easy, and it most likely is. You can have anything you want. Money is no option, and people adore you. However, for actors just starting out, the road to that success can be incredibly difficult and is not guaranteed.
This can lead actors to do just about anything to make ends meet. Unfortunately, there are many jobs that pay well but are not the most socially accepted jobs in the world, like stripping. Stripping is a pastime that many join in on, yet it is still considered to be taboo to many people.
You might even be surprised how many people, actors or otherwise, have tried out stripping in lean times. Add another name to that list of surprise celebrities who have considered it: Jennifer Lopez. She was recently in a movie about stripped, Hustlers, and has admitted she considered a real career stripping.
Jennifer Lopez has had a stellar career, dominating several fields of the entertainment industry throughout her career. She started as a back-up dancer, then moved on to being one of the biggest pop stars in the business, and eventually became a Golden Globe nominated actress. That makes her a triple threat, especially after her portrayal of Ramona in the movie Hustlers where she is nominated for Best Supporting Actress.
In the movie Hustlers, Lopez' character is a stripper who uses questionable methods to profit after the market crash of 2008. Loopez had said that she found the character difficult to play since she is very complicated and dark. What is very interesting about Lopez and her character is that they almost shared the same profession. That's because Lopez admitted that she considered being a stripper when she was first starting her career.
Lopez had an open conversation with W Magazine where she admitted that had considered being a stripper at the start of her career. She told W, "There was a moment in my life when my friends, who were also dancers, told me about making thousands of dollars at clubs in New Jersey. They said, 'You won't need to be topless.'" For a struggling actress, that might sound like too good of a deal to pass up. In the end, although it had the appeal of earning cash, Lopez decided not to pursue it.
"It sounded awfully good when I was broke and eating pizza every day. But I never did it." Although she never stripped in an actual strip club, you would never be able to tell from her performance in Hustlers. She performed her own moves to add authenticity to the role.
"Every role I do, I try to make it as authentic as possible, make it as real as possible, really go for the grit in it." Lopez is making a push for women's stories, which is what attracted her to Hustlers. "One of the things I want to do at my production company with my partner (Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas) is to take the women from the background and put them at the forefront and tell their stories."
Lopez' production company is called Nuyorican and is also responsible for Second Act and The Boy Next Door. Hustlers was a smash hit, making $33 million dollars and in discussion for awards season. It is a story based on true events of a group of strippers who were arrested after running a scam to drug men and use their credit cards.
