Chris Pérez, Selena’s widower, recently shared that the late Tejano legend might have actually known who Jennifer Lopez was before she portrayed her in the 1997 biopic Selena.
During a sit-down with Fox 26 Houston’s Coco Dominguez, Pérez reflected on a surprising connection from his touring days with Selena y Los Dinos.
Dominguez mentioned how the Selena film introduced many fans to Lopez, to which Pérez replied, “Yes, we saw [her as] the ‘Fly Girl’ in In Living Color, but that was different.”
Pérez went on to reveal that long before Selena’s passing in 1995—and years before the biopic came to life—the band was already watching Jennifer Lopez on TV.
“What’s crazy is, and I don’t know if I [said it] because at the time I hardly spoke about anything, you know, or much less spoke to Jen,” Pérez recalled around the 35-minute mark of the interview.
“The funny thing is … when we were on the bus, we used to watch In Living Color all the time. I forgot who it was, but they’d record every single episode and then we would get the VHS tape and take it into the bus, and Selena would watch it, too.”
He continued, “Little did we know, one, obviously the tragedy that was going to come about, but that we were watching somebody who’s going to portray her … in the movie. It’s so weird how things turn out sometimes.”
Though Pérez didn’t bring it up, Selena had often credited Janet Jackson as one of her biggest musical inspirations and even performed covers of her hits like “What Have You Done For Me Lately” and “When I Think of You.”
In another twist of fate, Jennifer Lopez had actually appeared as a background dancer in Janet Jackson’s 1993 music video for “That’s The Way Love Goes.”
Before that, Lopez was part of the Fly Girl dance crew on In Living Color from 1991 to 1993. Just two years after Selena’s heartbreaking death in 1995, Lopez went on to portray the “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom” star in the 1997 biopic that launched her into superstardom.
“I was young, I was 26 when I played Selena,” Lopez shared in a 2022 interview with Apple Music 1, calling the experience “a beautiful blessing for my life on so many levels.”
She continued, “I didn’t realize, at the time, the responsibility that I had, all I wanted to do was do her memory and that moment justice … I soaked up everything, I watched every interview that I could. I slept in her bed at home. I talked to the whole family. I spent time with them. It can be melancholy and beautiful at the same time … She taught me so much on how to navigate this business because I played it in the movie.”
