With a $400 million net worth, Jennifer Lopez could quite literally retire and live off the hundreds of millions she’s made throughout her three-decade-long career thanks to her successful Hollywood career.

The On The Floor singer has not just proven herself to be a powerhouse in the music industry but she’s also a strong contender on the big screen, having co-starred in movies with the likes of Ben Affleck, Jane Fonda, Matthew McConaughey, and her best pal Leah Remini.

But would it come as a shock that Lopez, who also starred in 2019’s Hustlers — the highest-grossing film in her career — was a movie she actually didn’t earn a penny for? While it’s hard to believe that J.Lo would agree to do a film for free, her reasons for not wanting to take any money for the role actually make perfect sense.

jennifer lopez hustlers movie
latimes.com

Why Wasn’t Jennifer Lopez Paid For ‘Hustlers’?

Hustlers, which was based on New York magazine’s 2015 article "The Hustlers at Scores,” entered cinemas in September 2019 and earning all kinds of records in the process.

In worldwide box office sales, the R-rated motion picture made an impressive $157 million despite its measly $20.7 million budget.

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On top of that, the film also had a string of major stars including Keke Palmer, Lili Reinhart, and Cardi B, which is probably where most of the production budget was spent.

In the midst of doing promotional work for the flick, Jennifer did an interview with GQ, where she admitted that she wasn’t paid for her acting work in Hustlers.

"I didn’t get paid a whole bunch of money for Hustlers,” she gushed. “I did it for free and produced it. I bank on myself. Like Jenny From the Block — I do what I want, I do what I love.

“I’ve never been motivated by money. I’ve always been motivated by wanting to be a great singer, a great actor, a great dancer, I want to make movies, I want to make music. And the money came along with that…”

But did Jennifer really agree to do Hustlers for free? Well, not quite.

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While she may have opted out of receiving a check for her role as Ramona, the mother of two definitely earned the big bucks for also being tied as one of the producers of the film.

Nuyorican Productions, the production company founded by Jennifer and her manager Benny Medina in 2001, was listed as one of the firms that helped put the movie together.

This meant that even without a paycheck for her starring role; if the film was to do well at the box office, J. Lo was going to get paid a significant amount regardless.

Her role as Ramona also earned Jennifer tons of award nominations including Best Supporting Actress at the Golden Globes and Female Actor in a Supporting Role by the Screen Actors Guild Awards.

There was a lot of buzz going around that Jennifer could also be up for an Oscar nomination following the raving reviews she received from the movie, but in the end, she didn’t make the cut, which she later admitted had left her feeling upset.

“I was sad. I was a little sad because there was a lot of buildup to it,” she told Oprah Winfrey on her 2020 Vision: Your Life in Focus Tour.

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“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 it 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 letdown.”

And while she missed out on getting an Oscar nod this time around, Jennifer can prove herself once again to the Academy seeing that she has a bunch of projects in the pipeline that could possibly see her qualify for a nomination in the future.

Her forthcoming films include Marry Me, The Godmother, Shotgun Wedding, and The Mother.

Though Jennifer was very much known for being the actress who usually booked comedy films, it’s fair to say that she’s been challenging herself on the big screen as of late, taking on characters that not only showcase her true talent as an actress but also help her win strong reviews from critics.

If the critics are calling your work a masterpiece, it’s more likely you’ll be in the running for one of the major awards, and though this was supposed to have been the case for Jennifer with Hustlers, we don’t doubt that any of her aforementioned films will be anything but Oscar-worthy.

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