Jennifer Lopez on Meeting Her Idol Barbra Streisand, Turning 55 on Tour & Becoming an Action Star

Our first guest tonight is one of the most beloved women on Earth. Her new science fiction adventure, Atlas, premieres Friday on Netflix. Please welcome Jennifer Lopez. Lopez! It's great to have you here. Boy, do you smell good. I mean, you look great. That's obvious to everyone, but you smell unbelievably good. Thank you so much. Do you know Slash? Of course I know Slash. I mean, of course you know Slash. Everybody knows Slash. I wonder if you guys, like, know each other. No, no, we don't know each other. Oh, well, that's Slash. Hi. This is J-Lo. We went to the same gym a while back. There you go. Which gym was that? The one at that guy's house. Oh, the Gunner Gunner. Yeah, Gunner getting a big shout out right now. Yeah, you know, I don't know if you're aware of this, but you become one of those people, those famous people that other famous people tell stories about meeting. Like, I think the people in that category are like Beyonce and President Obama, Mrs. Obama, Oprah, like Willie Nelson, maybe. And then you, for instance, Brie Larson was here. Yes. Do you recall the experience you had with her? Yes, of course I do. I love Brie. It was a full breakdown, mentally. You know, she grew up, she watched the movie Selena, she's just, you know. I guess has been a fan for a long time and yeah and kind of was inspired to act because not kind of not kind of This is more than kind of here we go. I'm living my dream, but I know I see Jennifer. Oh my god I know I know it's Jennifer Lopez. I know I know I know I can't deal with J-Lo Hello. No, I know this is how we all feel trust me we all get this way I even almost cry I wanted to be an actor, I can't. No, I can't i'm gonna cry i'm gonna cry That is, I mean, it's very sweet. I still get so overwhelmed, like I could cry right now. Really, from that, from her crying. Yes. It's a lot to absorb, isn't it? This sudden. It's just you go along in this career, and you have ups and downs, and you do your best work, and you are always trying to do your best. And then when you see that you've done something or anything that could have that reaction from somebody, it's just very moving. Have you had that, have you been in Bree's position and had that reaction with someone? Oh my God, yes. Yes, I have. Who? With Barbra Streisand. Oh. My mom. Wow. You guys know, of course, who Barbra Streisand is. Go, go, go, go. Just sometimes a young audience, they're like... Yeah, I know. If not, we're going to have to leave. Yes, yeah. Yeah. But my mom grew up loving Barbra Streisand, so she passed that on to me, and the love of musicals and kind of all that stuff. And so when I was in Hollywood and I was acting, and it was 20, 30 years ago, I met her. And I just was just like... And she was like, oh my God, you know, she just kind of was like asking me to look at my engagement ring at the time that Ben had given me years ago and lots of kind of just, you know, so that's a big diamond. And, you know, and I was like, yes, it is. And she was like, and just anything she said. And she was like, I don't know how you're famous. Because at that time I had done my. albums and things like that and and she was like I just and I'm thinking to myself you're the most famous person ever and she just had this thing of like how did I handle fame. It was surreal yes it was so surreal but I was just so taken by her and she was very nice and wound up giving me kind of advice on movies she gave that has stuck with me. She did? Yeah she told me five good things. Five good scenes. Five good scenes are what you look for in a script? When you read a script, that you have to have five good scenes that people will not forget. And I always think about that when I'm reading a script. I'm like, where's the scene? Where's the scene that's going to... Did you then take it to the next level? Have you been invited to the mall she's constructed in her basement? No, but oh my God, that would be a dream come true. Would it? Yeah. Oh my God, I would love it because I've seen all her movies. Yeah, because you know she's got a mall in her basement. I know. When she did her book, she did a thing with one of the people and I saw it. Did you read her book? I have not read her book. Oh, okay. My partner and my best friend, Elaine, is reading it. Oh, and she tells me about it all the time. She goes, oh, my god, and then this happened, this happened. Yeah, you don't need to read it. You've got an Elaine. No, I got Elaine telling me the whole damn book. Some people have book on tape. You have Elaine. Exactly. Tomorrow, I think you go back to rehearsing for your big tour, right? I do. I do. Yes. And you're dancing. This is something I feel like we can communicate about, because I'm a dancer, you're a dancer. We both have that hardcore dance background. Do you find that you're like, oh my god, I can't believe. Is it harder for you as the years go on? I think it's hard now that I'm older to dance. Yeah, I mean, is it? Oh, not yet. No, oh, really? So, so far, so good. Yeah. I actually really enjoy it. You know, I love performing, and I love getting out there. It's been five years since I've done a tour, you know, 2019. Thank you So I'm excited. I'm excited to get back out there. so much You're celebrating a big birthday on this tour, right? for being here Am I? You are, yeah. Yes, five years from the last time I celebrated a big birthday. That's right. and for being Are you aware, because we looked it up, where you're celebrating your big birthday? I have not looked it up yet. a part of this In Tulsa, Oklahoma. Okay. I can get with it. amazing team. I'm okay with it. You're the party. You bring the party. It doesn't matter where you are. Bring the party. Yes. In Tulsa. Let's go. We're going to have a good time. Will the twins join you on this tour? Yes, some of it. You know, they're 16 now, so they're like, you know. They don't want to be with mom all the time. Yeah, right, right. And how do they react? Do they enjoy it? Because I'm trying, I was trying, I was thinking about this today. I was trying to imagine my mom, you know, singing and dancing. I know. And I couldn't. It's awkward. Yeah. It's awkward for them, you know what I mean? And also, I, like, do sexy things on stage. Yeah, you don't want that. And they're like, who are you right now? Because they see me at home, like, with a bun and no makeup and, like, walking around barefoot. You don't do sexy things at home? Yeah, it's just sexy things. I do do sexy things at home sometimes, but they don't know. No. Jennifer Lopez is here. Her movie is called Atlas, it premieres Friday on Netflix. We'll be right back. Yeah. I do not know how to use this thing. Let's hope you're a quick learner. What do I do? Stop it! Escape pods have been deployed. The suit's deep in. No! That is Jennifer Lo from Netflix. It's a movie. It is a big old action movie. Yes, it is. Did you ever imagine you'd be in big old action movies? No, no. No. You know, I always thought about, like you said, singing, dancing, kind of doing those type things, dramas, romances, and stuff like that, to have kind of grown into being kind of an action movie person is a whole different thing. When you're in that capsule and you're spinning, are you really spinning, or is that a trick? You know, it's camera tricks sometimes, and it literally was just me for weeks in that thing by myself, like a one-woman show on green screen, just kind of being like, ah! Ah! You know, the whole freaking time. All right. But it worked. And the movie itself is about robots and AI. It's about AI and kind of like, it's great because there's this whole debate about AI right now. It's like, how, what's going to happen? Do we use it for good? Does it take over? And the movie kind of deals with that idea. It's nice because it gives you kind of the good side and the bad side. Well, what do you think is going to happen? Will it kill us, the AI? I think so. Yeah, you think so? We're all dead. That's good. Do you think you'll make it to the Cheesecake Factory in Tulsa on your birthday or no? I feel like we're safe for this birthday. Five years from now and the next big birthday, we don't know. What is your favorite action movie of all time? Does something come to mind? My favorite action movie. Oh, gosh. Excluding your own films. You know what? I really like, this just popped into my head. Do you guys remember that movie? It was an old movie, True Lies. Oh, yeah, yeah. With Arnold Schwarzenegger and... Tom Arnold was in that. Tom was in it, and also Jamie Lee Curtis. Jamie Lee Curtis. To me, that had, like, the perfect balance. And this movie's a little bit like that, of, like, humor and, like, seriousness and great action and kind of a nice little heart at the, you know, at the center of the movie. Yeah. Atlas is a lot like that. I know Netflix loves doing these movies with you because I think The Mother was the number one Netflix movie of 2023. Yeah. Shotgun Wedding was top three, 2023. I mean, it's really something about people love seeing you. They like seeing me do the action-y thing. They do like seeing you do the action-y thing. They like seeing you do sexy things and action-y things. Well, luckily I can do that. You know, Katy Perry just retired from American Idol. Did you hear that? I did hear about that. I don't know, maybe retired's not the right word, but she departed from American Idol. How many seasons were you on that show? I did. Uh, five seasons, I think. I did, no, did I? Yes, two the first time and then three the second. Do you remember any of the contestants at all? Of course. You do, okay. A lot of them, yeah. Would you consider going back there to be on that show? I don't know. You know, I really feel like I did it. I really feel like I did it and it was a great time in my life. It actually reintroduced me. I had just had my babies when, uh, they were like three years old when I was going back to work. I went on American Idol. Oh, wow. Three years old. Yeah, I know. I was, they're 16 now, so. Okay, so I'll tell them no? You said no? No? Yeah. Well, I do. I'm going on tour right now. Okay. And then I have another film that I'm doing. You're busy. Yeah, you're busy. Not this year. Not this year. Maybe next year. Well, Jennifer Lopez, she's on tour this summer. Her movie is called Atlas. It premieres Friday on Netflix. Thank you for being here. Thank you. Great to have you here. It's always great to be here.