Jennifer Lopez: shooting an action-based rom-com was ‘a new challenge for me’

By Mike Bedigan, PA Los Angeles Correspondent

Jennifer Lopez says performing in an action-based romantic comedy was “a new challenge for me” but that she “had a ball” while filming.

The international music megastar and actress stars in the new Amazon Prime film Shotgun Wedding, alongside Josh Duhamel, Lenny Kravitz, and multi-award winning TV star Jennifer Coolidge.

Lopez said she had initially questioned whether she wanted to do “another wedding movie” – having recently performed opposite Owen Wilson in Marry Me – but she had been persuaded by the script and format.

Shotgun Wedding sees soon-to-be newlyweds Darcy and Tom (Lopez and Duhamel) gather their families for a luxurious destination wedding, just as they begin to get cold feet.

Things take a turn for the even-worse, when the entire wedding party is taken hostage, forcing the couple to spring into action.

Lopez was joined by her cast mates, as well as director Jason Moore at the global premiere of the film in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

“I love doing the action, I’ve done a lot of romantic comedies – somebody told me (I’ve done) eight wedding movies,” she told the PA news agency.

“It’s funny because I had just done Marry Me and I was like ‘do I want to do another wedding movie?’ but it was so funny and so well written and at the same time was the first time I would be doing an action-romantic comedy.

“So that was a new challenge for me.”

Asked if she had done any extra training for the somewhat physical role, she replied: “I didn’t.

“I just threw myself into it like Lucille Ball, got my Lucy on and threw myself this way and that way – I just had a ball with it – see what I did there?”

Shooting for the film took place in the Dominican Republic in the aftermath of the coronavirus outbreak in 2020.

Shotgun Wedding will release globally on Prime Video on January 27th.